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C  0  M  M  0  i\    S  E  i\  S  E 


APPLIED    TO 


RELIGION 


OR, 


THE    BIBLE    AND    THE    PEOPLE. 


BY  CATHARINE   E.  BEECHER. 

ACXnOR  OF   "  LETTERS  TO  THE  PEOPLE  ON  HEALTH  AND  HAPPINESS,' 

** PHYSIOLOGY  AND  CALISTHENICS,"   ''DOMESTIC   ECONOMY," 

''DOMESTIC  RECELPT-BOOK,"  &C.,  i^C. 


NEW    YOTtK: 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS,     PUBLISHERS, 
FRANKLIN     SQUARE. 


MONTREAL:     BENJAMIN    DAWSON. 

1857. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  fifty-seven,  by 

Harper  &  Brothers, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District 
of  New  York. 


TO 

THE    PEOPLE, 

A3 
THE    SAFEST    AND    TRUEST    INTERPRETERS    OF 

THE    BIBLE, 

TO    WOMAN, 

AS 
THE   HEAVEN-APPOINTED  EDUCATOR  OF  MIND, 

THIS    wo  UK 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arcinive 

in  2008  witii  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


littp://www.archive.org/details/commonsenseappliOObeec 


INDEX. 


Page 

Introduction ix 

Chap.  I.  The  Grand  Questions  of  Life 0 

Chap.  II.  The  Principles  of  Keason,  or  Intuitive  Truths 14 

Chap.  HI.  Sources  of  Human  Knowledge 29 

Chap.  IV.  Of  the  Knowledge  gained  by  Human  Experience  in 
regard  to  the  Nature  of  JMind  and  of  the  System  of  which  it 

is  a  Part 32 

Chap.  V.  Knowledge  gained  by  Reason  and  Experience  alone 

as  to  aFuture  State 42 

Chap.  VI.  Knowledge  gained  by  Reason  and  Experience  alone 
concerning  the  Existence,  Character,  and  Designs  of  the 

Creator 47 

Chap.  VII.  Diversities  in  Systems  of  Mental  Philosophy 52 

Chap.  VIH.  Classification  and  Description  of  the  ^lental  Powers    59 

Chap.  IX.  Sensation  and  Perception 64 

Chap.  X.  Conception  and  Memory 79 

Chap.  XI.  Attention  and  Abstraction 83 

Chap.  XH.  Association 93 

Chap,  XHI.  Imagination 102 

Chap.  XIV.  Judgment 106 

Chap.  XV.  The  Susceptibilities 109 

Chap.  XVI.  The  Susceptibilities.     Emotions  of  Taste 120 

Chap.  XVII.  The  Moral  Susceptibilities 139 

Chap.  XVHI.  The  Will 149 

Chap.  XIX:.  Faith  or  Belief 165 

Chap.  XX.  Constitutional  Varieties  of  the  Human  Mind 175 

Chap.  XXI.  Habit 178 

Chap.  XXII.  Mind  as  Proof  of  its  Creator's  Designs 190 

Chap.  XXIII.  Social  and  ^Material  Proofs  of  the  Creator's  De- 
signs  207 

Chap.  XXIV.  Right  Mode  of  securing  the  Object  for  which 
Mind  was  created „.,.. 212 


Vlll  INDEX. 

rage 

Chap.  XXV.  Wrong  Action  of  Mind  and  its  Causes 220 

Chap.  XXVI.  Wrong  Action  of  ]\Iind  and  its  Results  in  this 

Life 224 

CuAp.  XXVII.  Wrong  Action  of  Mind  and  its  Results  in  a  Fu- 
ture State 233 

CiiAP.  XXVIII.  Character  of  the  Creator 245 

CiLVP.  XXIX.  On  Perfect  and  Imperfect  Minds 250 

Chap.  XXX.  On  the  probable  Existence  and  Character  of  Dis- 
embodied Spirits , 258 

Chap.  XXXI.  Probabilities  in  regard  to  a  Revelation  from  the 

Creator 261 

Chap.  XXXII.  Interpretation  of  Language 2{;5 

Addenda  to  Vol.  1 281 

Notes 337 


INTRODUCTION. 


This  work  is  the  result  of  thirty  years  of  devotion  to 
the  training  of  the  human  mind  for  the  great  end  for 
which  it  was  created.  Early  in  that  period  it  was 
felt  that  at  the  very  foundation  of  such  efforts  were 
opposing  theological  theories,  that  seemed  at  war  with 
both  the  common  sense  and  the  moral  sense  of  man- 
kind. 

In  the  progress  of  such  duties,  a  work  was  prepared 
on  Mental  and  Moral  Science,  as  a  text-hook  for  the 
institution  under  the  care  of  the  writer,  which  was 
printed,  but  never  published.  After  submitting  this 
work  to  the  criticism  of  a  number  of  the  leading  minds 
of  various  schools  and  sects,  it  was  found  to  contain 
so  much  that  might  result  in  theological  controversy, 
that  it  was  deemed  modest  and  wise  to  wait  until  age, 
experience,  and  farther  examination  had  lent  their  ma- 
turing influence. 

After  a  delay  of  over  a  quarter  of  a  century,  the  con- 
viction above  stated  not  only  remains,  but  has  been 
strengthened  by  the  discussions  and  developments  that 
have  intervened  in  that  period. 

While  the  great  practical  truths  both  of  natural  and 
revealed  religion  have  seemed  constantly  to  be  gaining 
a  more  controlling  influence  over  the  intellect  and  feel- 
ings of  mankind,  the  theological  dogmas  referred  to 
A2 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

have  been  more  and  more  evaded  or  rejected,  even  by 
those  who  receive  and  respect  the  Bible  as  containing 
authentic  and  authoritative  revelations  from  God. 

At  the  same  time,  there  is  apparent  a  manifest  and 
strong  tendency,  especially  among  the  young  and  most 
highly-educated  of  both  sexes,  to  infidelity ;  not  to 
that  species  of  a  former  age  which  involved  a  hatred 
and  contempt  for  the  Bible,  nor  to  the  entire  rejection 
of  it  as  a  very  respectable  and  useful  collection  of 
most  interesting  writings,  but  to  a  rejection  of  it  as  a 
sure  and  authomtative  guide  in  faith  and  morals. 

Though  there  may  be  other  assignable  causes  for 
this,  it  is  certain  that  not  the  least  powerful  is  the  re- 
pellency  of  dogmas  claimed  to  be  contained  in  the 
Bible,  which  are  revolting  both  to  the  intellect  and  to 
the  moral  nature  of  man. 

Instead  of  being  able  to  meet  their  religious  teach- 
ers with  the  assumption  that  all  which  they  have  felt 
to  be  contrary  to  reason,  to  common  sense,  and  to  com- 
mon honesty  is  not  contained  in  the  Sacred  Writings, 
many  have  gradually  drawn  oflf  to  the  religion  of  rea- 
son and  nature,  and  left  the  Bible  to  theologians  and 
the  Church. 

At  the  same  time,  there  has  been  a  new  develop- 
ment of  philanthropy,  in  which  those  who  either  re- 
pudiate the  Bible  as  of  any  binding  authority,  or  dis- 
allow its  commonly-accepted  teachings,  are  as  prom- 
inent and  earnest  in  works  of  benevolence  as  the  most 
orthodox  of  any  sect.  To  these  are  added  religious 
teachers,  who  set  forth  the  morality  and  benevolence 
demanded  in  the  Bible  as  obligatory,  and  as  satisfac- 
torily deducible  from  the  light  of  nature,  so  that  no 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

revelation  is  needful  to  make  them  more  so.  Mean- 
time, in  popular  forms  and  by  popular  writers,  all  the 
most  plausible  and  startling  difficulties  that  oppose  the 
claims  of  the  Bible  are  widely  disseminated,  while  lit- 
tle is  done  to  counteract  these  influences. 

iinother  class  of  religionists  has  also  arisen,  that 
numbers  probably  its  hundreds  of  thousands,  the  Spir- 
itualists,  who  rest  their  faith  on  a  new  species  of  so- 
called  revelations,  which  ordinarily  clash  with  the  ac- 
cepted teachings  of  the  Bible,  and  by  vast  numbers 
are  received  as  of  superior  authority. 

Meantime  the  press  and  public  lectures  are  exten- 
sively supplanting  the  pulpit  as  organs  of  moral  and 
religious  influence  over  large  portions  of  the  commu- 
nity, wliile  a  large  part  of  the  most  popular  speakers 
and  writers  avowedly  reject  the  Bible  as  of  any  bind- 
ing authority  in  deciding  moral  and  religious  ques- 
tions. 

At  the  same  time,  there  has  arisen  a  freedom  of  in- 
vestigation, and  an  aversion  to  all  traditional  or  con- 
servative bonds,  such  as  probably  never  before  was  so 
universal  and  dominant  in  this  nation,  especially  among 
those  religiously  educated. 

All  these  influences  have  combined  to  place  the 
Bible,  and  the  systems  of  theology  that  claim  to  be 
educed  from  it,  in  entirely  new  relations.  Nothing 
now  is  safe  on  the  ground  of  tradition,  or  of  authority, 
or  of  the  reverence  that  belongs  to  age,  learning,  gen- 
ius, or  experience.  Every  thing  in  religion,  as  well 
as  other  matters,  is  to  stand  on  its  own  claims,  and 
not  by  any  factitious  supports. 

In  this  state  of  the  public  mind,  the  following  con- 


Xii  INTRODUCTION. 

siderations  have  had  influence  in  leading  to  the  pre- 
sentation of  the  views  contained  in  this  volume. 

It  is  the  distinctive  maxim  of  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity that  "  every  person  is  to  be  his  own  interpreter 
of  the  revelations  of  God  contained  in  the  Bible,  re- 
sponsible only  to  his  Maker."  This,  of  course,  im- 
plies the  practicability  of  a  proper  qualification  for 
this  duty  in  every  individual,  so  that  no  person  shall 
necessarily  be  dependent  on  other  minds  for  a  cor- 
rect knowledge  of  all  that  relates  to  his  own  duty  and 
dangers. 

It  is  manifest  that  the  Creator  designed  that  vjoman 
sliould  have  the  leading  position  as  the  educator  of 
inincl^  especially  at  that  period  when  the  habits  and 
principles  of  life  are  formed.  This  being  so,  it  is  clear 
that  it  was  designed  that  she  should  be  qualified  to 
gain  by  her  own  independent  powers  all  that  is  re- 
vealed by  God  that  wiU  aid  her  in  this  great  work. 

The  theological  theories  referred  to,  as  seemingly  op- 
posing the  moral  sense  and  common  sense  of  miankind, 
are  those  that  relate  to  the  foundation  principle  on 
which  the  training  of  mind  is  to  start.  They  involve 
the  most  practical  questions  of  every-day  life,  both  as 
to  individual  responsibility  and  to  the  education  of  the 
young. 

These  theories,  then,  are  to  be  examined  and  tested 
by  the  laity  as  much  as  by  theologians,  and  especially 
are  they  to  be  examined  and  decided  on  by  wovian,  as 
the  heaven-appointed  educator  of  infancy  and  child- 
hood. 

In  this  examination,  these  theories  are  to  be  tested, 
not  by  the  decisions  of  ecclesiastical  bodies,  nor  by  the 


INTEODUCTION.  XIU 

writings  of  theologians,  but  by  those  principles  of  rea- 
son and  common  sense,  and  those  laws  of  language^ 
which  guide  mankind  in  all  other  practical  and  per- 
sonal duties.  In  order  to  this,  these  principles  must 
be  evolved  and  stated  in  simple  and  popular  form,  for 
particular  application  on  these  questions ;  for  no  man 
or  woman  can  decide  wdiether  a  thing  agrees  with,  or 
is  contrary  to  the  moral  sense,  or  to  the  principles  of 
reason  and  common  sense,  till  they  clearly  perceive 
what  those  principles  are,  and  have  learned  to  apply 
them  appropriately. 

The  leading  object  of  this  volume  is,  then,  to  pre- 
sent these  principles  in  a  popular  form,  and  to  make  it 
apparent  that  they  can  be  practically  employed  by 
the  laity  in  deciding  wdiat  is  truth,  both  as  to  the 
claims  of  the  Bible  as  containing  authoritative  revela- 
tions from  the  Creator,  and  also  as  to  the  true  inter- 
pretation of  it. 

In  asking  the  attention  of  the  laity,  including  her 
ow^n  sex,  to  the  discussion  of  topics  which  have  hereto- 
fore been  deemed  the  most  difficult,  recondite,  and  pro- 
found, it  is  with  the  full  conviction  that  most  of  the 
difficulties  that  heretofore  have  opposed  such  investi- 
gations have  belonged,  not  to  the  topics  themselves, 
but  to  the  methods  of  discussion. 

It  is  believed  that,  though  this  small  volume  em- 
braces most  of  those  points  in  metaphysics  wdiich  have 
been  considered  the  most  difficult,  there  is  not  a  page 
that  can  not  be  perfectly  comprehended  by  any  man  or 
woman  of  only  an  ordinarily  good  education,  and  with 
less  intellectual  effort  tlian  is  demanded  of  little  girls 
in  acquiring  an  ability  to  parse  the  English  language. 


XIV  INTRODUCTION. 

it  is  true  tliat  close  thought  and  attention  are  req- 
uisite for  a  full  appreciation  of  all  in  this  volume  ;  but 
not  more  of  these  are  required  than  the  dignity  and 
importance  of  the  great  topics  involved  properly  de- 
mand. 

In  attempting  what  is  here  proposed,  it  can  be  seen 
that  there  are  great  difficulties  to  be  met.  As  a  gen- 
eral fact,  these  subjects  have  not  been  presented  in 
popular  forms,  but  have  been  confined  to  works  of 
metaphysics  and  theology,  and  there  enveloped  in  sci- 
entific technics  and  formulas  not  interesting  or  intelli- 
gible to  the  common  mind.  For  this  reason,  it  has 
been  suggested  that,  before  presenting  the  abstract  por- 
tion, 3i practical  illustration  of  the  subject,  embodied  in 
the  history  of  the  opinions  of  the  author,  as  they  have 
been  formed  or  modified  by  these  principles,  w^ould 
have  far  more  effect  on  the  class  of  readers  for  whom 
the  work  is  written  than  the  bare  statement  of  princi- 
ples and  argument,  while  it  would  certainly  be  more 
likely  to  be  read. 

It  has  been  still  farther  urged  that,  in  attempting  to 
controvert  long-established  theories,  embodied  as  a  part 
of  religious  truth  in  the  popular  mind,  there  will  be  an 
opposition  oi  feeling  to  be  overcome,  which  needs  a 
counterbalancing  appeal  to  the  feelings  such  as  an  in- 
dividual history  can  best  offer. 

As  to  the  propriety  of  such  a  measure,  it  is  now  so 
common  to  offer  autobiographies,  and  histories  of  life 
and  opinions  by  living  authors,  that  this  will  be  no  in- 
novation on  the  customs  of  the  literary  world. 

To  this,  a  more  weighty  consideration  should  be  add- 
ed, and  that  is,  that  all  questions  of  propriety  and  of 


INTRODUCTION.  XV 

duty  are  regulated  by  circumstances  of  risk  and  dan- 
ger. A  woman,  suddenly  roused  from  sleep  to  save 
her  children  from  the  flames,  has  a  very  different  rule 
of  propriety  in  appearing  before  the  public  from  that 
demanded  on  ordinary  occasions.  In  this  view,  a  be- 
liever in  the  risks  of  the  eternal  loss  of  the  soul  must 
withhold  nothing,  howe\*er  sacred  and  cherished,  if 
there  is  the  shadow  of  a  probability  that  it  wiU  avail 
aught  in  aiding,  it  may  be,  but  one  struggling,  darkened 
mind  in  the  death-agony  of  the  soul. 

From  these  considerations,  the  writer  has  been  led 
to  prefix  to  the  exhibition  of  principles  and  arguments 
of  this  work,  a  mental  history  that  shall  particularly 
illustrate  the  subjects  discussed.  The  article  was  pre- 
pared for  certain  personal  and  family  friends,  and  is  in- 
serted very  nearly  in  its  original  form. 

ILLUSTRATIVE   MENTAL   HISTORY. 

I  wish,  before  publishing  my  forthcoming  work,  to 
obtain  the  views  of  some  of  my  theological  friends  as 
to  certain  phases  of  experience  of  my  own  mind,  and, 
to  a  certain  extent,  of  other  minds  known  to  me. 

My  intellectual  character  was  a  singular  compound 
of  the  practical  and  the  imaginative.  In  youth  I  had  no 
love  for  study  or  for  reading  even,  excepting  works  of 
imagination.  Don  Quixote,  the  novel  to  which  I  first 
had  access,  was  nearly  committed  to  memory,  as  were 
a  few  other  novels  found  at  my  grandmother's.  The 
poets,  both  ancient  and  modern,  were  always  in  reach, 
and  with  these  materials  I  early  formed  a  habit  of  rev- 
erie and  castle-building  as  my  chief  internal  source  of 
enjoyment.    With  this  was  combined  incessant  activ- 


XVI  INTRODUCTION. 

ity  in  practical  matters,  such  as,  at  first,  doll-dress- 
ing and  baby -house  building;  afterward  drawing, 
painting,  exploits  of  merriment,  practical  jokes,  snow 
castles  and  forts,  summer  excursions,  school  and  fam- 
ily drama-acting,  and  the  like.  Till  eighteen,  I  never 
wrote  any  thing  but  a  few  letters  and  scraps  of  rhyme, 
and  the  transforming  of  some  stories  into  dramas  for 
acting.  A  kind  teacher,  who  sympathized  in  my 
strong  love  of  the  comic,  described  me  as  "  the  busiest 
of  all  creatures  in  doing  nothing." 

Socially^  I  was  good-natured  and  sympathizing,  so 
that  my  jokes  and  tricks  were  never  such  as  to  tease 
or  annoy  others. 

Morally^  I  had  a  strong  sense  of  justice,  but  was 
not  naturally  so  conscientious  as  some  of  the  other 
children.  Add  to  these,  persevering  energy,  great 
self-reliance,  and  such  cheerful  hopefulness  that  the 
idea  of  danger  or  failure  never  entered  my  head. 
Even  to  this  day,  perfect  success  and  no  mischances 
are  always  anticipated  till  reason  corrects  the  calcu- 
lation. 

Thus  constituted,  my  strict  religious  training  made 
little  impression,  for  I  rarely  heard  any  thing  of  that 
which  seemed  so  dull  and  unintelHgible.  Up  to  the 
age  of  sixteen  my  conceptions  on  this  subject  were 
about  these:  that  God  made  me  and  all  things,  and 
was  very  great,  and  wise,  and  good ;  that  lie  knew  all 
I  thought  and  did ;  tliat  because  xVdam  and  Eve  dis- 
obeyed him  once  only,  he  drove  them  out  of  Eden,  and 
then  so  an-anged  it  that  all  their  descendants  would 
be  born  with  wicked  hearts,  and  that,  though  this  did 
not  seem  either  just  or  good,  it  was  so;  that  I  had 


INTKODLCTION.  xv'n 

such  a  wicked  heart  that  I  could  not  ffci  or  act  rio-ht 
in  any  thing  till  I  had  a  new  one ;  that  God  only 
could  give  me  a  new  heart ;  that,  if  I  died  without 
it,  I  should  go  to  a  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone,  and  be 
burned  alive  in  it  forever ;  that  Jesus  Christ  was 
very  good,  and  very  sorry  for  us,  and  came  to  earth, 
and  suffered  and  died  to  save  us  from  this  dreadful 
doom ;  that  7'evivals  were  times  when  God,  the  Holy 
Spirit,  gave  people  new  hearts ;  that,  when  revivals 
came,  it  was  best  to  read  the  Bible,  and  pray,  and 
go  to  meetings,  but  that  at  other  times  it  was  of  little 
use.  This  last  was  not  taught,  but  was  my  own  in- 
ference. 

My  mind  turned  from  all  this  as  very  disagreeable. 
When  led  by  my  parents  and  Christian  friends  to  it,  I 
tried  to  do  as  they  told  me,  because  I  saw  they  were 
anxious  and  troubled,  and  I  wished  to  relieve  them. 
Two  or  three  times,  when  I  saw  my  father  so  troubled,  I 
took  Doddridge's  Rise  and  Progress  of  Religion^  and 
tried  to  go  through  the  process  there  laid  down,  but 
with  utter  failure.  Meantime,  I  rarely  heard  any  pray- 
ers or  sermons,  and  at  fifteen  I  doubt  if  the  whole  ot 
my  really  serious  thoughts  and  efforts  would,  except 
the  above,  have  occupied  a  whole  hour. 

In  the  earlier  periods  of  my  religious  training,  my 
parents,  in  tlieir  instructions,  and  also  my  little  hymns 
and  catechisms,  made  the  impression  that  God  loved 
little  children,  and,  though  he  was  angry  when  they 
did  wrong,  he  was  pleased  when  they  did  right ;  and, 
as  parental  government  was  tender  and  loving,  my  im- 
pression of  the  feelings  of  the  heavenly  Parent  were 
conformed  to  this,  my  past  experience. 


XVlll  INTRODUCTION. 

But  when,  in  more  mature  years,  I  came  under  the 
influence  of  "  revival  preaching,"  all  this  impression 
seemed  to  be  reversed.  I  was  taught  to  look  at  God 
as  a  great  "  moral  governor,"  whose  chief  interest  was 
"to  sustain  his  law."  Then  there  seemed  to  be  two 
kinds  of  right  and  wrong,  the  "  common"  and  the 
"  evangelical."  According  to  this  distinction,  I  could 
not  feel  or  do  any  thing  that  was  right  or  acceptable 
to  God  till  my  birth-gift  of  a  depraved  heart  was  re- 
newed by  a  special  divine  interposition. 

Meantime,  there  did  not  seem  to  be  any  direct  and 
practical  way  of  securing  this  supernatural  interfer- 
ence ;  for  it  was  to  be  the  result,  not  of  any  efforts  of 
mine,  nor  were  any  divine  promises  or  encouragements 
offered  to  secure  my  efforts.  On  the  contrary,  the  se- 
lection of  the  recipients  of  this  favor  was  regulated  by 
a  divine  decree  of  "  election,"  without  reference  to  any 
acts  of  a  being  who  did  nothing  but  evil,  and  only  evil, 
till  this  favor  was  bestowed.  Moreover,  all  the  ex- 
hortations to  effort  were  based  simply  on  the  fact  that, 
ordinarily,  those  who  took  a  certain  course  were  se- 
lected, though  I  perceived  that  sometimes  those  who 
did  the  least  were  chosen,  while  those  who  did  the 
most  were  passed  by. 

It  was  this  view  of  the  case  that  had  the  chief  influ- 
ence in  leading  to  an  entire  neglect  of  all  religious  con- 
cerns. It  was  so  nearly  like  a  matter  of  mere  chance, 
and  there  seemed  so  little  adaptation  of  means  to  ends, 
that,  to  one  so  hopeful,  and,  at  the  same  time,  so  prac- 
tical, there  was  very  little  motive  of  any  kind  to  lead 
to  a  religious  life. 

The  first  real  earnest  feeling  I  ever  had  on  this  sub- 


INTRODUCTION.  XIX 

ject  was  when  my  tender  mother  died — such  a  moth- 
er as  earth  has  seldom  seen ;  as  strong  in  intellect  as 
she  was  modest  and  gentle  in  manners,  and  loving  and 
sympathizing  in  heart.  She  left  seven  children  youn- 
ger than  myself,  one  of  them  a  babe,  and  I  only  sixteen. 
I  really  tried,  for  some  time,  to  become  a  Christian,  till 
the  load  of  grief  was  alleviated  by  time,  and  then  such 
efforts  ceased ;  but  these  new  responsibilities  turned 
my  practical  habits  into  useful  channels. 

Once  after  this,  when  "  a  revival"  seemed  closing, 
and  my  father  expressed  his  distress  for  my  indiffer- 
ence, I  told  him  I  was  so  happy  I  could  not  do  any 
thing  but  enjoy  life,  and  that  nothing  but  trials  and 
sorroiD  would  do  me  any  good.  Tears  came  into  his 
eyes  as  he  said,  "  Dear  child,  must  I  die  too  ?"  The 
responsive  tears  came  to  my  eyes,  but  soon  all  was 
forgotten. 

Ax  tills  time  my  theory  of  morals  was,  that  to  lie, 
steal,  swear,  quarrel,  disobey  parents,  and  break  the 
Sabbath,  were  sins  for  which  I  should  feel  guilty  ;  but 
for  not  becoming  a  Christian,  when  I  could  not  under- 
stand how  to  do  it,  never  rested  on  my  conscience  as 
a  sin,  but  was  felt  to  be  simply  a  misfortune.  And  I 
wondered,  if  God  desired  that  I  should  have  a  new 
heart,  and  he  only  could  give  it,  why  he  did  not  do  so. 
This  was  the  amount  of  my  *' reasoning"  so  far.  Till 
nearly  twenty,  I  gained  little  knowledge  except  by 
intercourse  with  intelligent  people,  for  still  I  had  no 
love  for  solid  reading  or  study.  At  about  that  age,  I 
remember  turning  over  Reid's  work  on  Mental  Science, 
in  which  my  mother  had  been  deeply  interested,  and 
wondering  how  people  could  read  such  stuff. 


XX  INTRODUCTION. 

At  twenty  that  betrotlial  took  place,  so  soon  and 
so  tragically  ended !  It  was  the  realization  of  all  my 
favorite  dreams  of  earthly  bliss.  Affection,  taste,  am- 
bition, every  thing  most  desirable  to  me  and  to  family 
friends,  seemed  secured.  In  a  few  months  all  was  end- 
ed, and  in  the  most  terrible  and  heart-rending  manner. 

After  the  first  stunning  effect  was  over,  the  next 
feeling  was,  "This  is  that  indispensable  sorrow!  this 
is  to  save  me  from  eternal  death  .^"  And  so,  as  soon 
as  I  could  do  any  thing,  I  began  a  course  of  religious 
reading,  prayer,  and  mental  conflict.  I  tried  to  remedy 
that  pernicious  mental  habit  of  reverie  and  castle-build- 
ing; I  tried  to  do  I  knew  not  what  in  "becoming  a 
Cliristian." 

Shut  up  in  entire  seclusion,  all  my  dearest  hopes 
forever  crushed,  without  hope  or  object  in  life,  over- 
whelmed with  grief,  horrified  less  at  his  dreadful  death 
than  at  the  awful  apprehensions  he  himself  had  im- 
parted that  he  was  unprepared  to  die,  I  spent  week  after 
week  in  reading  the  stern  and  powei-ful  writings  of 
President  Edwards,  Dwight's  System  of  Theology,  and 
other  similar  works.  I  hoped  for  nothing,  cared  for 
nothing  but  to  become  a  Christian.  Yet  no  one  could 
teU  me  intelligibly  how  to  do  it,  while  it  was  clear  that 
all  expected  nothing  from  my  efforts,  and  that  all  was 
dependent  on  a  divine  efflatus  that  was  to  change  the 
birth-gift  of  a  depraved  heart. 

And  yet  I  was  told  that  the  fault  was  all  my  own ; 
that  it  w^as  my  obstinate  unicilUngness  to  do  what  was 
required  that  alone  made  it  needful  for  God  to  inter- 
fere. This  was  urged  as  a  doctrine  from  God,  and  so, 
though  it  seemed  as  if  I  was  not  only  willing,  but  that 


INTEODUCTION.  XXI 

I  longed  for  this  change,  I  submitted  my  humble  in- 
tellect to  His,  and  owned  that  it  must  be  so.  So  pass- 
ed several  dark  and  weary  months. 

Next,  I  went  to  visit  the  parents  of  the  friend  I  had 
lost.  Here  I  read  his  private  records  of  years  of  al- 
most superhuman  effort  to  govern  his  mind,  and  to 
achieve  the  very  thing  I  was  laboring  for,  and  yet,  to 
his  mind,  all  ended  in  entire  failure ;  and  this,  too, 
without  any  murmuring,  or  any  accusation  of  any  one 
but  himself.  It  was,  as  he  maintained,  because  he  was 
so  ungrateful,  so  hardened,  so  obstinately  "unwilling," 
so  averse  from  God  and  his  service.  And  yet  he  was 
the  model  of  every  domestic,  social,  and  official  virtue; 
so  reverent  to  God,  so  tender  as  a  son  and  brother, 
so  conscientious  and  faithful  as  an  instructor!  In 
not  a  single  duty  did  he  fail  that  the  closest  intimacy 
could  discover ;  and  yet,  by  his  own  showing,  he  had 
HO  love  to  God,  and  was  entirely  "  unwilling"  to  love 
and  serve  him. 

At  the  same  time,  I  found  his  intelligent,  tender, 
heart-broken  mother  had  for  years  been  living  just 
such  a  conscientious  life,  without  any  hope  that  she 
was  a  Christian,  while  now  her  pride  and  darling  son 
was  lost  to  her  forever  on  earth,  and  oh !  where  was 
he?  and  where  should  she  meet  him  at  last?  And 
thus  she  died.  The  only  brother,  too,  so  conscientious 
and  exemplary,  was  and  long  continued  in  the  same 
same  position  of  mind. 

These  revelations  took  away  all  hope  of  any  good 
fi-om  any  farther  efforts  of  mine.  At  this  period  I 
almost  lost  my  reason.  For  some  days  I  thought  I 
should  go  distracted.     The  first  decided  "change  of 


XXU  INTRODUCTION. 

mind"  I  now  recall  was  an  outburst  of  indignation 
and  abhorrence.  I  remember  once  rising,  as  I  was 
about  to  offer  mj  usual,  now  hopeless  prayer,  with  a 
feeling  very  like  this :  that  such  a  God  did  not  deserve 
to  be  loved ;  that  I  would  not  love  him  if  I  could,  and 
I  was  glad  I  did  not !  It  was  but  momentary,  and 
the  long  training  of  years  resumed  its  sway. 

It  was  at  this  period  that  I  framed  my  first  attempt 
at  serious  argument  in  a  letter  to  my  father.  I  took 
this  position,  that  our  own  experience  and  co7iscious- 
ness  were  the  highest  kind  of  evidence  of  our  mental 
power,  and  that  I  had  this  evidence  of  my  mental  in- 
ability to  love  God  as  required.  My  father's  reply  was 
published  in  the  Christian  Sjpectator^  and  was  regard- 
ed as  masterly  and  unanswerable.  Its  chief  aim  was 
to  lessen  confidence  in  my  own  consciousness,  and  to 
show  that,  as  God  was  just  and  good,  and  certainly 
did  require  supreme  love  to  him,  we  had  the  power  to 
obey.  I  was  unable  to  meet  the  argument,  and  so  al- 
lowed that  it  must  be  so,  and  that  all  that  was  in  my 
way  was  my  own  obstinate  "unwillingness." 

But  there  was  another  point  about  which  I  attempt- 
ed to  reason  that  I  did  not  give  up  so  easily.  Accord- 
ing to  the  theory  of  "obstinate  unwillingness,"  there 
was  nothing  in  the  Bible  by  way  of  promise,  or  even 
encouragement,  for  any  like  me.  For  how  could  God 
feel  sympathy  for  obstinate  rebels,  or  how  make  prom- 
ises of  hope  and  encouragement  to  those  whose  only 
difficulty  was  an  unreasonable  dislike  to  God  and  his 
service  ?  Such  texts  as  I  quoted  to  the  contrary  (as 
Prov.  2:1-6;  Matth.  7:7;  John  4 :  10)  were  not  for 
such  as  I,  but  for  those  already  converted ;   and  no 


INTEODUCTION.  xxiii 

prayers,  even,  were  acceptable  till  offered  by  a  renewed 
heart.  So  it  seemed  impossible,  in  any  case,  to  pray 
acceptably  to  God  for  the  greatest  of  all  boons,  redemp- 
tion from  the  awful  doom  of  eternal  death ;  for  at  re- 
generation the  blessing  was  already  given,  and  before 
that  act  no  prayer  was  acceptable.  So  there  was  no 
place  for  such  a  prayer.  This  I  never  accepted,  though 
I  did  not  quite  venture  to  oppose  it. 

At  one  time  my  mind  turned  with  longing  and  ten- 
der emotions  toward  Jesus  Christ.  All  he  said  and 
did  appeared  so  reasonable  and  so  kind  that  it  seemed 
to  me  he  would  hear  my  prayers.  I  brought,  to  sustain 
this  idea,  the  case  of  the  young  man  whom  "  Jesus 
loved"  when  he  had  no  religion.  Here  I  was  met  by 
a  theory  that,  till  now,  had  not  attracted  my  notice, 
which  was,  that  there  was  a  human  soul  in  Christ  join- 
ed to  the  Divine  mind,  and  that  it  was  this  human  soul 
that  felt  this  "human  sympathy"  for  sinners,  and  hore 
all  the  suffering^  while  the  Deity  had  nothing  but  calm, 
unmingled  bliss.  This  made  me  feel  that  I  could  love 
the  human  soul,  but  could  not  love  God.  Indeed,  the 
sufferings  of  this  innocent  Savior,  unshared  by  God, 
was  the  most  revolting  of  all. 

At  the  close  of  a  long  year  of  such  darkness  and 
suffering,  I  went  to  my  friends  in  Boston,  where  "  a 
revival"  was  in  progress,  and  where  I  met  my  father. 
Here  I  received  the  most  tender  sympathy,  was  taken 
to  prayer-meetings,  and  every  thing  was  said  and  done 
that  piety  and  love  could  devise  for  my  relief,  but  all 
in  vain. 

Finally,  I  came  to  this  attitude  of  mind :  "  I  will  not 
try  any  more  to  understand  any  thing  about  these  doc- 


XXIV  INTEODUCTION. 

trines.  I  will  not  try  any  more  to  '  be  convinced  of 
sin'  in  tliis  inability  to  love  God.  Something  is  the 
matter :  it  does  not  seem  like  obstinate  '  unwilling- 
ness ;'  bat  if  God  says  so,  I  will  take  his  word  for  it. 
I  will  assume  that  He  is  just,  and  wise,  and  good,  in 
spite  of  all  that  seems  to  contrary.  I  will  try  to  do  all 
He  commands  the  best  I  can.  There  must  he  a  dread- 
ful mistake  someioJiere^  but  I  will  trust  and  obey, 
and  wait  quietly  for  light."  At  this  time  my  father 
gave  me  some  little  hope.  I  knew  not  why,  for  I  did 
not  "love  God"  according  to  any  of  the  ordinary  tests. 
But  I  was  encouraged  to  hope  that  my  heart  was  "re- 
newed," and  I  shortly  after  made  a  public  profession 
of  religion  in  my  father's  church. 

During  my  residence  with  the  friends  referred  to,  I 
attempted  the  duties  of  a  teacher  to  two  young  daugh- 
ters of  the  family,  and,  to  prepare  myself,  for  the  first 
time  set  my  mind  to  real  hard  study.  In  five  weeks 
I  went  through  a  large  Arithmetic,  of  which  I  knew 
almost  nothing;  in  seven  weeks  I  completed  Day's 
Algebra.  Two  schoolbooks  on  Chemistry  and  Nat- 
ural Philosophy  were  also  mastered  that  gloomy  win- 
ter. I  had  no  other  resource  within  or  witliout  for  so 
active  a  mind.  Then  my  father  urged  me,  for  the  sake 
of  a  sister,  as  my  own  pecuniary  wants  had  been  pro- 
vided for,  to  commence  a  school  in  Hartford.  As  I 
taught  only  half  a  day,  and  "  the  higher  branches" 
were  but  just  entering  female  schools,  I  found  no  dif- 
ficulty in  keeping  sufficiently  ahead  of  my  pupils. 
Thus  commenced  my  career  as  a  teacher. 

I  went  on  several  years  with  no  other  evidence  of 
"love  to  God,"  which  was  the  main  test  of  "regener- 


INTKODUCTION.  XXV 

ation,"  but  perseverance  in  the  determination  to  assume 
that  He  was  wise,  just,  and  good,  and  to  do  all  I  could 
to  obey  him.  ^ly  great  aim  in  life  was  to  find  out 
what  He  required  from  the  Bible,  and  then  to  try  to 
do  it  as  well  as  I  could.  Besides  this,  I  imitated  the 
methods  of  Christian  worthies.  I  kept  a  religious  di- 
ary— read  religious  books — went  to  religious  meetings 
— prayed  in  my  school,  and  taught  religion  to  my  pu- 
pils as  it  had  been  taught  to  me.  Often,  when  I  found 
suffering  young  minds  embarrassed  by  my  own  diffi- 
culties, willing  and  anxious  to  do  all  in  their  power, 
and  yet  unable  to  feel  as  required,  I  almost  lived  over 
past  anguish  of  spirit,  and  could  scarcely  nerve  myself 
to  instruct  them  that  all  the  wrong  was  their  own  "  ob- 
stinate unwillingness."  There  was  a  constant  conflict 
between  the  theories  to  which  I  had  bowed  my  intel- 
lect, and  thought  I  really  believed,  and  the  impulses 
of  my  moral  nature  and  common  sense. 

Sometimes  these  questions  were  intolerably  impera- 
tive. What  evidence  is  there  that  what  God  says  is 
true^  when  He  claims  to  be  wise,  and  just,  and  good, 
when  He  has  done  such  contradictory  things  ?  For  a 
single  act,  done  six  thousand  years  ago,  the  first  act 
of  disobedience  too.  He  has  so  constituted  things  that 
all  the  human  minds  that  might  be  made  right  are 
formed  so  '-'' dep/xivecV^  as  that  not  one  of  them  will  ever 
be  ''  willing"  to  love  and  obey  the  Creator  till  He  "  7'e- 
news'''  their  minds.  If  I  were  to  act  thus,  I  sliould 
think  it  right  for  every  one  to  believe  I  was  cruel  and 
unjust  until  I  showed  good  reasons  for  it.  And  if  I 
saw  any  one  ruining  the  minds  of  young  children,  or 
permitting  Adam  or  any  one  else  to  do  it,  when  I  had 

B 


XXVI  INTRODUCTION. 

power  to  prevent  it,  I  should  say  it  was  right  to  con- 
sider him  an  abominable  and  hateful  being  till  he  show- 
ed good  reasons  for  such  a  course. 

Such  thoughts  were  banished  by  the  force  of  a  strong 
will,  and  I  continued  to  hold  on  to  the  Bible  as  a  rev- 
elation from  God,  and  to  His  claims  as  being  wise, 
and  just,  and  good.  My  renewed  decision  was, ' '  There 
is  some  dreadful  mistake  somewhere  ;  but  I  will  take 
God's  word  and  trust  it,  do  the  best  I  can,  and  wait 
till  all  is  made  clear." 

In  the  later  periods  of  life,  a  mode  of  religious  train- 
ing has  come  repeatedly  under  my  observation,  to  which 
a  brief  reference  will  here  be  made.  I  have  known 
children,  no  more  favorably  endowed  than  myself,  and 
some  of  them  less  so,  whose  parents  were  no  more 
earnest  and  faithful  than  mine,  though  on  a  different 
theoiy. 

These  children  were  first  trained  to  prompt,  un- 
questioning, and  universal  obedience  to  their  parents' 
commands,  almost  such  as  is  required  by  their  Creator 
to  his  fixed  and  unalterable  laws.  At  the  same  time 
they  were  treated  with  the  greatest  tenderness  and 
sympathy,  and  as  soon  as  they  could  understand  the 
reasons  for  parental  requirements,  these  reasons  were 
given,  but  always  with  the  understanding  that  im- 
plicit obedience  must  often  be  rendered  without  under- 
standing the  reasons.  When  these  habits  of  confiding 
and  affectionate  obedience  were  formed,  then  they  were 
taught  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  Maker,  Friend,  and 
Father  of  all,  who  loved  all  his  children  as  these  pa- 
rents loved  their  little  ones,  only  more  and  better; 
that  He  created  them  to  be  happy,  rejoiced  to  see 


INTRODUCTION.  XXVli 

them  so,  and  was  always  sorry  for  them  in  every 
trouble. 

They  were  taught  that  there  are  right  ways  and 
wrong  ways  of  seeking  to  be  happy ;  that  Jesus  Christ 
came  into  this  world  to  teach  us  what  are  these  right 
and  wrong  ways,  and  that  His  instructions  are  writ- 
ten in  the  Bible ;  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  feel  and 
act  right  in  all  things ;  that,  when  children  try  to  do 
so,  the  Savior  is  pleased  with  them,  and,  though  they 
see  liim  not,  is  present  with  them  to  help  them ;  that, 
wlien  tliey  fail,  and  feel  or  act  wrong,  he  is  grieved,  as 
their  parents  are,  and  as  ready  to  forgive  and  help 
them,  when  they  too  are  sorry,  and  continue  to  try  to 
do  right  in  all  things ;  that  they  are  Christians  just 
so  far  as  they  succeed  in  obeying  Christy  and  that,  the 
more  they  try,  the  more  help  they  will  have,  and  the 
better  they  will  succeed. 

Thus  these  children  grew  up  with  the  feeling  that 
whenever  they  did  any  thing  that  was  kind,  honest, 
honorable,  just,  and  self-denying,  they  were  pleasing, 
not  only  their  parents,  but  their  best  and  ever-present 
Friend.  Under  such  a  course,  the  varied  duties  of  re- 
ligion and  of  social  and  domestic  life  were  gradually 
not  only  explained,  but  enforced^  both  by  parental  au- 
thority and  example,  till  a  character  and  habits  were 
formed  that  were  far  more  consistent  with  the  Xew 
Testament  exhibitions  of  Clnristian  life  than  is  often 
seen  among  mature  Christians. 

Without  at  present  expressing  any  other  opinion  in 
regard  to  this  method,  I  am  strong  in  the  belief  that 
if  this  course  had  been  pursued  with  me  in  child- 
hood, very  different  mental  habits  would  have  been 


XXVlll  INTRODUCTION. 

the  result,  and  that  the  Christian  life  would  have  be- 
gun and  progressed  probably  before  the  severe  disci- 
pline of  sorrow  came,  and  certainly  after  it  had  been 
experienced. 

At  the  same  time,  there  is  a  deep  conviction  that 
many  of  my  young  pupils,  who  turned  away  from  re- 
ligion as  uninviting,  severe,  and  unintelligible,  would, 
by  another  method,  have  been  easily  led  into  the  true 
paths  of  pleasantness  and  peace. 

I  wish  now  to  exhibit  the  influence  of  one  doctrine 
(which  I  claim  to  be  that  of  reason  as  truly  as  of  rev- 
elation) on  a  mind  like  mine.  I  have  stated  something 
of  that  hopeful,  elastic,  and  happy  temperament  that 
seemed  to  make  sorrow  so  indispensable  to  the  devel- 
opment of  my  noblest  powers.  But  the  earthly  sor- 
row, time  and  new  interests  would  have  remedied  ere 
youth  had  passed.     But  that  awful  doctrine  of  the 

ETEEXAL,  IRRE:\IEDIABLE  LOSS  OF  THE  SOUL,  SO  ground 

into  my  spirit  by  years  of  effort,  of  which  this  was 
the  mainspring,  has  been  the  grand  motive  power  of 
my  whole  life  ever  since.  K  I  could  in  any  way  have 
satisfied  myself  that  a  time  would  come,  however  dis- 
tant, when  all  sufferers  would  be  repaid  by  eternal 
ages  of  bliss,  and  ail  the  guilty,  however  long  their  pe- 
riod of  purgation,  would  at  last  be  pure  and  happy /b/*- 
evei\  I  should  have  returned  to  life  and  its  enjoyments 
with  fresh  zest  after  such  a  period  of  privation.  But 
I  could  not  gain  any  such  assurance  without  the  Bible, 
but  rather  the  reverse;  wliile  all  the  life  and  teachings 
of  Christ  and  the  Apostles  seemed  entirely  based  on  the 
assumption  that  our  whole  race  were  in  awful  danger, 
that  some  were  to  be  saved  and  some  were  to  be  lost 


INTRODUCTION.  Xxix 

forever^  and  that  the  great  end  for  which  Christ  lived, 
and  for  which  his  followers  are  to  live,  is  to  SAVE  as 
MANY  AS  POSSIBLE  from  this  awful  doom. 

Indeed,  I  could  not  see  how  any  one  could  feel  any 
respect  for  the  teachings  of  Christ  when  such  terrible 
things  were  uttered  by  him,  if  there  was  no  just  reason 
thus  to  terrify  and  alarm  mankind.  Times  without 
number,  I  went  over  the  New  Testament  to  see  if  I 
could  find  any  honest  way  of  escaping  that  doctrine, 
and  always  ending  with  a  deeper  and  more  awful  con- 
viction of  its  reality.  The  result  was,  that  while,  for 
the  first  year,  I  was  driven  to  such  mental  effort  and 
suffering  to  save  myself,  as  soon  as  the  least  hope 
dawned  that  I  was  safe,  all  that  was  kindly  and  sym- 
pathizing in  my  nature  led  me  to  renewed  efforts  to 
save  others. 

After  such  a  lesson  of  inability,  both  in  my  own 
case  and  that  of  such  dear  friends,  no  words  can  ex- 
press the  ineffable  pity,  sympathy,  and  almost  horror 
with  which  I  looked  on  the  world  around  me.  And 
when  young  and  happy  minds,  such  as  once  was  my 
own,  came  under  my  training,  I  never  felt  any  need  of 
being  "  waked  up,"  as  some  Christian  people  seemed 
to  do.  It  only  seemed  to  me  I  could  never  sleep. 
There  never  has  been  an  hour  for  thhty  years  when  a 
moment's  consideration  of  this  awful  doctrine  would 
not  drive  away  every  temptation  to  earthly  ambition, 
or  any  longings  for  earthly  good  of  any  sort  for  my- 
self. Many  times,  when,  by  the  presentation  of  such 
an  awful  theme,  I  have  brought  the  young  to  me  with 
tears  and  willing  docility,  and  when,  to  the  question 
"What  can  we  do  to  be  saved?"  my  shut-up  heart 

A 


XXX  INTEODUCTION. 

was  ready  to  exclaim  "Nothing,"  I  have  "been  so  bur- 
dened and  worn  as  to  be  obliged  to  pray  to  forget,  and 
to  take  every  lawful  mode  to  turn  my  thoughts  to  oth- 
er less  exciting  themes.  It  was  at  such  times  I  un- 
derstood for  what  the  love  of  the  comic  was  implanted, 
and  if  all  Christians  should  feel  as  I  do,  what  might 
be  the  legitimate  use  of  works  of  fiction,  the  drama, 
and  the  dance.  In  such  a  case,  and  properly  regulated, 
they  would  be  needful  and  only  beneficial  alteratives. 
I  wish  now  to  ask  my  theological  friends  to  consider 
the  character  of  my  inner  life.  In  all  outward  mani- 
festations I  took  the  theory  of  religion  trained  into  me, 
and  did  my  best  to  believe  it,  and  talked,  and  wrote,  and 
prayed,  and  acted  before  others  on  the  assumption  of  its 
truth.  But  my  inner  life  was  after  this  fashion :  as  to 
prayer  in  private,  I  found  great  comfort  in  the  preface 
to  the  Lord's  prayer,  '''-Aftei'  this  manner  pray  ye."  It 
was  a  short,  comprehensive  prayer,  which  amounted  to 
this,  that  God's  will  might  be  done  on  earth  as  in  heav- 
en ;  that  our  temporal  wants  might  be  supplied ;  that 
we  might  do  right  and  escape  evil.  This  I  could  sin- 
cerely feel  and  pray  when  all  details  distressed  me. 
But,  still  better,  this  prayer  began,  "  Our  Father  J''* 
Kow  to  me,  through  my  whole  life,  this  word  "  father" 
had  been  associated  with  unparalleled  tenderness,  sym- 
pathy, and  love ;  with  truth,  justice,  and  all  that  was 
lovable.  I  could  not  apply  it  to  God  without  such 
associations,  and  so  it  comforted  me — and  that  was  all. 
But  the  prayers,  hymns,  and  sermons  conformed  to  the 
theory  of  religion  were  occasions  when  I  had  to  strug- 
gle with  feelings  of  disgust  and  abhorrence.  Especial- 
ly, at  times,  was  this  so  in  reference  to  tlie  atoning 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXl 

sacmfice  of  Jesus  Christ,  until  I  formed  a  curious  men- 
tal habit  of  letting  these  things  pass  through  my  mind 
as  something  I  did  not  understand,  and  then  there 
seemed  to  flow  in  a  vague  impression  of  something 
"better,  I  knew  not  what. 

In  the  progress  of  years  I  came  to  instruct  some  of 
the  most  vigorous  and  active  minds  I  ever  saw,  both  in 
mental  science  and  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Bible, 
and  thus  gTaduaUy  evolved  and  applied  "the  princi- 
ples of  reason  and  rules  of  interpretation"  in  this  work. 
The  results  will  mainly  appear  in  what  follows. 

Up  to  this  time,  my  feelings  toward  God  (except 
sometimes  when  praying,  as  above  described)  were 
that,  as  He  has  said  he  was  wise,  and  just,  and  good,  I 
would  take  his  word  for  it,  in  spite  of  all  the  evidence 
to  the  contrary,  and  feel  and  act  as  he  required  as  far 
as  I  had  power.  !My  service,  however,  was  much  like 
that  of  a  slave  to  a  hard  master.  If  "  ih^fear  of  the 
Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom,"  I  certainly  began 
aright. 

But  the  whole  force  of  my  being  was  turned,  not  to- 
ward Him,  but  toward  my  lost,  and  suffering,  and 
darkened  fellow-beings.  And  when  all  my  darkness 
was  removed,  and  by  a  simple  intellectual  process  of 
argumentation  I  drew  from  His  Holy  Word  all  my 
soul  had  longed  for,  my  chief  joy  was,  not  that  I  was 
safe,  not  that  I  could  feel  emotions  of  love  to  Him,  but 
that  He  felt  as  I  did  for  this  all-absorbing  pui-pose 
and  end  of  my  existence — to  save  my  fellow-men. 

Some  minds  seem  to  begin  religious  life  with  such 
emotions  of  love  to  the  Creator  as  makes  it  easy  to 
carry  out  the  pui*pose  to  obey  him.     In  my  case,  I  be- 


XXXU  INTRODUCTION. 

gan  with  the  cool  intellectual  purpose  to  obey  him, 
while  it  was  love.,  not  to  Him,  but  to  my  fellow-men, 
that  made  it  easy  to  carry  out  this  purpose  of  obedi- 
ence. But,  in  both  cases,  was  it  not  the  sjpirit  of 
ohedience  that  was  the  grand  requisite  ?  The  all-con^ 
trolli7ig  purpose  of  acting  Tight.,  by  obeying  all  the 
laws  of  the  Creator  as  discovered  by  the  light  of  Na- 
ture, or  by  His  revealed  Word — is  not  this  the  dis- 
tinctive feature  that  marks  the  ''^regenerated''''  soul? 

It  is  theological  theories,  forced  on  mankind  through 
popes,  emperors,  and  church  councils,  by  pains  and 
penalties,  which  has  mystified  that  grand  question  of 
life,  "  What  must  we  do  to  be  saved  V  so  that  the  an- 
swer to  almost  every  other  practical  question  is  more 
clear  than  this.  What  do  the  great  masses  of  men 
suppose  that  they  themselves  are  to  do  if  ever  they  be- 
come "regenerated?"  Multitudes  imagine  that,  by 
going  to  camp-meetings,  or  conference  meetings,  or  in 
"revivals,"  some  Divine  efflux  will  come  over  them, 
of  which  the  chief  evidence  is  that  the  mind  is  filled 
with  joy,  or  other  delightful  emotions.  Others  deem 
it  a  mysterious  change,  that  takes  place  sometimes  in 
sleep,  without  any  voluntary  act  of  the  individual. 
Others  suppose  it  to  consist  in  certain  emotions  or 
mental  acts,  in  reference  to  Jesus  Christ,  that  come  by 
divine  influence.  Others  consider  it  an  act  of  the  in- 
tellect and  will,  of  which  emotions  may  be  the  preced- 
ing state,  or  may  follow  as  a  result.  Probably  the  vast 
majority  regard  it  as  a  mysterious  indescribable  event, 
that  no  one  can  understand  till  it  is  experienced,  and 
which  can  not  be  made  intelligible  to  an  "  unrenewed 
mind." 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXIU 

Thousands  of  excellent,  conscientious  persons  are 
moving  about  with  dark  minds  and  heavy  hearts,  who 
would  instantly  become  happy  and  consistent  followers 
of  Christ  if  these  theories  could  be  removed  from  their 
minds,  and  they  were  sure  that  an  earnest  spirit  of  obe- 
dience to  Jesus  Christ  is  what  is  required;  to  which 
the  promises  of  hope  and  encouragement  are  made; 
which  is  the  liighest  evidence  of  regeneration,  and  the 
chief  feature  of  that  "love  to  God"  required ;  while  all 
emotions,  frames,  and  feelings  are  nothing  without  it. 
Thousands  of  children  and  young  persons,  religiously 
trained,  are  held  back  from  a  religious  life  because  it 
is  conceived  of  as  so  mysterious,  uninviting,  and  pain- 
ful that  they  can  neither  understand  or  desire  it.  At 
the  same  time,  it  is  true  that,  after  children  have  been 
trained  wrong ^  so  that  bad  habits  of  mind  are  dom- 
inant, the  clear  understanding  of  this  subject  will  not, 
in  many  cases,  make  it  easy  for  them  to  commence  a 
religious  life,  or  make  it  look  desirable. 

The  fearful  sanctions  of  eternity  can  not  very  di- 
rectly be  brought  to  bear  on  the  minds  of  young  chil- 
dren without  great. risk  of  entirely  false  impressions. 
We  see,  in  the  Old  Testament,  that  when  God  was 
training  a  race,  in  the  infancy  of  its  development  He 
made  visible  appearances,  used  temporal  motives,  and 
made  no  appeals  to  the  sanctions  of  the  invisible  world. 
Like  the  parents  just  referred  to,  his  first  aim  seemed 
to  be  to  teach  habits  of  obedience  to  God's  temporal 
laws,  while,  at  the  same  time,  He  displayed  his  sympa- 
thy, mercy,  and  love.  And  among  his  ancient  people 
men  became  his  obedient  children  by  just  such  train- 
ing as  is  now  best  fitted  to  young  children. 


XXXIY  INTRODUCTION. 

But  when  the  race  was  farther  advanced,  so  as  to  be 
able  to  act  more  by  reason  and  on  geney^al  2)ri7icijples, 
and  when  His  religion,  by  new  motives  and  forces,  was 
to  be  extended  from  one  nation  to  all  the  Avorld,  then 
the  Creator  came  himself ;  and  while  disclosing  those 
most  terrific  sanctions  of  the  invisible  world,  at  the 
same  time  exhibited  such  a  manifestation  of  His  pity, 
sympathy,  and  self-sacrijici7ig  love  as  renders  these 
terrors  safe  and  effective  in  such  a  conjuncture,  as  they 
would  not  be  without. 

With  these  two  classes  of  motives  thus  intensified, 
such  a  moral  power  has  been  generated,  leading  to 
self-denying  efibrts  to  educate  and  save  mankind,  as 
never  existed  before.  In  the  case  of  the  writer,  the 
power  of  these  terrible  sanctions  alone  has  been  illus- 
trated. In  other  cases,  the  power  of  Christ's  love  and 
example  have  been  the  leading  motives.  It  is  the 
union  of  both,  clearly  appreciated,  and  especially 
brought  to  bear  on  those  who  form  the  character  of 
childhood  and  youth,  that  eventually  is  to  renew  the 
whole  race,  and  bring  every  human  being  to  perfect 
obedience  to  all  the  laws  of  the  Creator. 


In  the  investigation  which  originated  at  the  time  the 
writer  commenced  teaching  mental  philosophy  in  con- 
nection with  the  Bible,  this  was  the  first  point  to  which 
attention  was  led,  "What  is  that  '  reasori^  or  '  common 
sense"  which  is  so  often  appealed  to  as  the  umpire  in 
religion,  morals,  and  interpretation  ?"  All  the  works 
of  mental  science  within  reach  were  examined,  but  it 
was  long  before  any  clear  conceptions  on  this  question 
Avere  gained,  and  still  longer  before  any  test  was  evolved 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXV 

that  seemed  a  ^practical  one,  as  it  is  presented  in  this 
work.  Not  that  these  principles  and  the  test  are  not 
indicated  by  metaphysicians  in  various  forms  of  lan- 
guage, but  that  there  is  such  a  confusing  variety  of 
expression,  and  all  is  so  presented  as  a  speculative  in- 
stead of  a  practical  question,  that  years  elapsed  before 
that  use  of  these  principles  which  this  work  illustrates 
was  attained. 

This  is  here  referred  to  in  explanation  of  future 
passages  that  otherwise  might  seem  to  imply  that  the 
author  assumes  to  have  discovered  something  not  be- 
fore known  or  recognized  by  metaphysicians.  The 
very  writings  of  Dr.  Eeid,  which,  in  early  life,  were 
turned  over  with  wonder  that  any  one  could  be  in- 
terested in  them,  probably  contain  the  most  complete 
and  clear  exhibition  of  these  principles,  and  also  rec- 
ognize the  test  by  which  they  are  to  be  established. 
The  writings  of  Sir  William  Hamilton  exhibit  other, 
but  less  practical  tests  of  these  principles. 

Until  the  printing  of  this  volume  was  nearly  com- 
plete, it  was  the  plan  of  the  author  to  have  the  whole 
work  issued  at  once ;  and,  with  reference  to  this  whole, 
its  title  was  The  Bible  and  the  People,  or  Common 
Sense  Applied  to  Religion.  But,  after  submitting 
this  portion  of  the  work  to  criticism,  it  was  concluded 
to  issue  only  one  volume,  and  to  wait  until  it  was  seen 
what  reception  the  principles  it  offered  would  meet. 
In  consequence  of  this,  it  seemed  proper  to  transpose 
the  title,  as  the  latter  portion  of  it  best  describes  the 
contents  of  the  first  volume.  This  accounts  for  what 
is  unusual  in  paging  and  in  the  running  title  on  the 
left-liand  pages. 


THE 

BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   GRAND    QUESTIONS   OF   LIFE. 

We  are  now  living  througli  the  period  of  demoli- 
tion. In  morals,  in  social  life,  in  politics,  in  medicine, 
and  in  religion,  there  is  a  universal  upturning  of  found- 
ations. 

But  the  day  of  reconstruction  seems  to  be  looming 
in  the  orient,  and  now  the  grand  question  is.  Are  there 
any  sure  and  universal  principles  that  will  evolve  a 
harmonious  system  in  which  all  shall  agree  ?  Or,  is 
the  only  unity  to  be  anticipated  that  which  results  from 
the  unsatisfactory  conclusion  that  all  must  "  agree  to 
disagree  ?" 

The  first  alternative  is  believed  to  be  in  our  future; 
and  it  is  hoped  that  this  volume  will  contribute  some- 
thing toward  evolving  such  principles  of  reconstruction. 

In  some  happily  constituted  minds  and  singularly 
favorable  circumstances,  the  passages  of  this  life  are 
almost  uniformly  happy,  and  no  clouds  ever  shut  out 
the  sunshine  of  a  cheerful  existence. 

But,  as  a  general  rule,  the  farther  we  advance  in  life, 
the  more  solemn  become  our  convictions  that  its  ex- 
periences are  stormy,  sad,  disappointing,  and  unsatis- 
A2 


10  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

factory.  And  the  nobler  the  mind  and  the  more  ex- 
alted its  aspirations,  the  more  surely  are  these  lessons 
read  and  understood. 

If  we  turn  aside  from  the  lower  haunts  of  pover- 
ty, vice,  and  crime,  and  look  only  at  the  more  favored 
classes,  we  find  men  toiling  for  years  and  years  to 
build  up  schemes  which,  in  some  sudden  shock,  crum- 
ble and  pass  away ;  or,  are  their  high  hopes  accom- 
plished, some  bitter  ingredient  mingles  with  the  cup 
of  success,  that  turns  it  to  gall. 

And  so,  in  heart-histories,  the  tenderest  ties  are  form- 
ed, as  it  would  seem,  only  to  be  wrenched  and  torn. 
The  young  heart  gives  its  fresh  impassioned  love  to 
its  appropriate  object,  and,  just  at  the  happy  consum- 
mation, death  or  desertion  forever  ends  life's  brightest 
experience. 

The  young  parents  receive  their  first-born  with  un- 
told rapture,  and  then  some  disease  or  accident  turns 
it  to  a  hopeless  idiot  or  ceaseless  sufferer. 

The  young  husband  lays  at  once  his  first  love  and 
his  first  bom  in  the  same  grave.  The  tender  parents 
spend  years  and  years  of  care  and  effort  to  rear  a  dar- 
ling child,  and  at  the  culmination  of  their  hopes  the 
flower  is  cut  down. 

Business  or  misfortune  severs  those  whose  chief  hap- 
piness would  be  to  live  together.  The  long-tried 
friends  of  early  life  are  thro^vn  into  painfiil  antago- 
nisms that  end  their  friendship.  The  conflicts  of  in- 
terest and  party  develop  conduct  and  character  that 
shatter  confidence  in  men  and  tempt  to  misanthropy. 

In  short,  there  are  seasons  when  a  thoughtful  and 
tender  spirit  is  tempted  to  feel  as  if  some  malignant 


THE   GRAND   QUESTIONS   OF   LIFE.  11 

power  were  commissioned  to  seek  out  all  that  is  most 
beautiful,  harmonious,  and  delightful  in  the  experi- 
ence of  our  race,  only  to  imbitter,  confound,  and  de- 
stroy. 

And  even  where  the  experience  of  life  has  been  the 
most  favorable,  as  its  closing  years  come  on  early 
friends  pass  away,  the  capacities  and  resources  of  en- 
joyment diminish,  and  the  dim  cloud  that  shrouds  the 
closing  vista  awakens  solemn  and  anxious  meditations 
on  the  untried  and  silent  future.  Such  experiences 
bring  forth  the  heart-yearning  questions  that  come,  as 
it  were,  from  the  united  voice  of  sad  and  suffering  hu- 
manity : 

"Is  there  a  God  that  controls  the  destinies  of  man  ? 
If  so,  what  are  his  character  and  designs  ?  Is  this 
sad  life  our  only  portion,  or  shall  we  live  beyond  the 
grave  ?  If  there  is  another  life  before  us,  what  influ- 
ence has  our  conduct  and  character  here  on  its  solemn 
destinies  ? 

Are  we  left  to  our  own  unaided  faculties  to  reason 
out  from  the  nature  of  things  around  us  the  replies  to 
these  momentous  questions,  or  has  the  Author  of  our 
bemg  given  some  direct  revelation  to  guide  us  ? 

If  such  a  revelation  exists,  is  it  made  accessible  to 
all,  or  must  one  portion  of  our  race  necessarily  depend 
on  fallible  and  interested  interpreters  ? 

Does  this  revelation  agree  with  reason  and  experi- 
ence, and  does  it  contain  all  that  we  need  both  for  safe 
guidance  and  for  peace  of  mind  ? 

It  is  believed  that,  in  the  following  pages,  it  will  be 
seen  that  every  mind,  of  even  only  ordinary  capacity, 
is  furnished  with  the  means  of  answering  all  these 


12  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

questions,  and  with  as  much  certainty  as  appertains 
to  the  ordinary  practical  questions  of  this  life. 

At  the  same  time,  it  will  appear  that  most  of  the 
difficulties  and  diversities  of  opinions  in  religious  mat- 
ters have  mainly  resulted  from  neglecting  these  means 
of  obtaining  truth  and  peace,  and  that  the  "good  times 
coming"  are  all  depending  on  the  proper  use  of  these 
means. 

As  introductory  to  the  first  main  topic,  it  is  impor- 
tant to  refer  to  the  fact  that,  in  all  languages,  man  is 
recognized  as  possessing  what  is  called  reason.  He 
is  called  a  reasonable  being  and  a  reasoning  being,  and 
it  is  claimed  that  it  is  his  reason  that  places  him  at  the 
head  of  creation  in  this  world. 

Again,  in  discussions  on  truth  and  duty,  all  men 
seem  to  agree  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  reason^  and 
that  it  is,  more  or  less,  to  be  made  the  umpire  in  set- 
tling all  disputed  points.  It  is  true  that  very  few 
seem  to  have  a  clear  and  definite  idea  of  what  this 
reason  is,  or  how  it  is  to  be  made  an  umpire.  But  all 
allow  that  there  is  such  a  thing,  and  that  it  has  a  very 
important  office  in  deciding  questions  of  truth  and  duty. 

Then,  again,  among  more  scientific  men,  we  hear 
constant  reference  made  to  our  *' intuitions"  and  our 
*^  intuitive  knowledge,"  as  if  there  were  some  fixed 
truths  which  are  superior  to  all  others.  It  is  true, 
that  when  we  come  to  inquire  specifically  as  to  what 
are  these  intuitions,  we  often  find  them  to  be  acquired 
notions,  and  sometimes  such  as  are  unsupported  by 
any  evidence,  or  even  contrary  to  the  best  kind  of  ev- 
idence. Nevertheless,  those  who  use  these  terms  aU 
agree  in  the  fact  that  there  are  "intuitions"  and  "in- 


THE  GRAND   QUESTIONS   OF  LIFE.  13 

tuitive  knowledge,"  wliich  are  superior  to  any  other 
kinds  of  knowledge,  and  involve  a  certainty  of  convic- 
tion which  no  reasoning  can  overthrow. 

Then,  as  we  advance  still  higher  in  the  world  of 
letters,  we  find  metaphysicians  and  philosophers  as- 
suming that  a  belief  in  certain  truths  is  implanted  in 
all  rational  minds  by  the  Creator  as  a  necessary  part 
of  their  constitution,  and  that  these  truths  are  the  foun- 
dation of  most  of  our  acquired  knowledge.  The  truths 
or  principles  of  mind  thus  recognized  are  called  by  va- 
rious names,  such  as  reason^  the.  jprincvples  of  reason^ 
the j)7'i7nary  truths,  the  intuitioiis,  the  intuitive  truths, 
the  fundamental  truths,  the  princijyles  of  common 
sense,  the  categories,  etc. 

The  grand  difficulty  on  this  subject  has  been,  that 
while  all  agree  in  the  existence  of  such  implanted 
truths,  there  has  never  been  any  test  for  deciding  which 
are  these  truths,  in  distinction  from  our  acquired  no- 
tions. 

It  is  the  object  of  the  succeeding  chapter  to  present 
the  most  important  of  these  truths,  and  also  to  set  forth 
an  infallible  test  by  which  they  may  be  distinguished 
from  every  other  kind  of  knowledge. 

And  this  attempt  is  made  with  a  ftdl  conviction  that 
success  in  such  an  effort  is  to  be  the  foundation  of  that 
harmony  of  reconstruction  which  has  been  indicated  as 
provided  for  the  future. 


14  THE  BIBLE   AND  THE  PEOPLE. 


CHAPTEE  II. 
PRINCIPLES   OF   REASON,  OR  INTUITIVE  TRUTHS. 

It  is  maintained  that  the  Author  of  mind  has  im- 
planted, as  a  part  of  its  constitution,  the  belief  in  cer- 
tain truths,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  disbelieve  them 
without  losing  that  which  distinguishes  man  as  a  ra- 
tional being. 

It  is  also  assumed  that  there  is  an  infallible  test,  by 
which  we  can  distinguish  these  truths  from  all  those 
acquired  notions  which  men  often  falsely  call  intui- 
tions, or  principles  of  reason,  etc. 

Before  proceeding,  it  will  be  premised  that  the  at- 
tempt will  not  be  to  set  forth  all  those  truths  that  may 
properly  be  called  intuitive,  but  it  will  be  limited  to 
those  which  are  immediately  connected  with  the  sub- 
jects to  be  discussed. 

To  proceed,  then,  the  first  principle  of  reason,  or  in- 
tuitive truth,  is  that  by  which  we  arrive  at  the  idea  of 
a  great  Fii'st  Cause,  who  was  without  a  heginning. 
In  briefest  form,  this  truth  is  usually  thus  expressed : 

EVERY   CHANGE   HAS   A   CAUSE. 

The  position  here  maintained  is  that  the  human  mind 
is  so  made  that,  w^henever  any  kind  of  change  (or  ef- 
fect) takes  place,  there  inevitably  follows  a  belief  that 
there  is  some  antecedent  which  is  the  cause  of  this 
change,  or,  in  other  words,  that  there  is  something  that 
produced  this  change. 


PRINCIPLES   OF   REASON,  OR   INTUITIVE   TRUTHS.      15 

Now  the  question  is  not  how  this  conviction  first 
finds  entrance  to  the  mind,  nor  whether  it  is  conse- 
quent on  experience. 

It  is  simply  a  question  of  fact.  Men  always  do, 
whenever  they  see  any  new  form  of  existence,  or  any 
change  take  place,  believe  that  there  is  some  antecedent 
cause  that  produced  this  change. 

Moreover,  if  a  man  should  be  found  who  was  des- 
titute of  this  belief,  so  that  in  his  daily  pursuits  he 
assumed  that  things  would  spring  into  existence  with- 
out any  cause,  and  that  there  were  no  causes  of  any 
kind  that  produced  the  changes  around  him,  he  would 
be  pronounced  insane — a  man  who  had  "  lost  his  rea- 
son." 

Here,  then,  we  have  an  example  of  an  intuitive  truth, 
and  also  an  illustration  of  the  test  by  which  we  are  to 
distinguish  such  truths  from  all  others,  viz.  : 

Any  truth  is  a  principle  of  reason^  or  an  intuitive 
truths  when  all  men  talk  and  act  as  if  they  believed  it 
in  the  2>ractical  affairs  of  life,  and  xohen  talking  and 
acting  as  if  it  loere  not  believed,  would  universally 
be  regarded  as  evidence  that  a  Tnan  had  '•^lost  his 
reason."" 

It  will  now  be  shown  how  a  belief  in  this  truth  in- 
volves a  belief  in  some  great  First  Cause  who  himself 
had  no  beginning. 

The  atheist  says  thus :  Somewhere,  far  back  in  other 
ages,  there  were  no  existences  at  all,  either  of  matter 
or  mind ;  but  at  a  given  period,  without  any  cause  at 
all,  the  vast  and  wonderful  contrivances  of  matter  and 
mind  began  to  exist. 

The  first  reply  to  this  is,  that  it  is  an  assertion  with- 


16  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

out  evidence,  either  intuitive  or  otherwise.  No  being 
ever  was  known  to  testify  of  such  an  event,  and  there 
is  no  proof  of  it  of  any  kind. 

Next,  it  is  replied  that  placing  such  an  event  at 
distant  ages  does  not  render  it  any  more  credible  than 
the  assertion  that  worlds  and  intelligent  beings  are 
coming  into  existence  at  the  present  time  without  any 
cause.  God  has  so  constituted  our  minds  that  we  can 
not  believe  that  any  curious  and  wonderful  contriv- 
ance springs  into  being  without  a  cause,  either  now  or 
at  any  past  period  of  time. 

If  the  atheist,  in  the  common  affairs  of  life,  should 
talk  and  act  as  if  he  believed  there  were  no  causes  for 
all  the  existences  and  changes  around  him,  he  would 
be  regarded  as  having  "lost  his  reason."  And  thus 
Holy  Writ  sanctions  the  decision :  *'  The  fool  hath 
said  in  his  heart.  There  is  no  God." 

We  find,  then,  that  our  minds  are  made  so  that  we 
can  not  help  believing  that  whatever  begins  to  be  has 
an  antecedent  cause  that  produces  it,  and  every  change 
in  any  kind  of  existence  has  a  cause.  We  find,  also, 
the  universe  around  us  to  be  a  succession  of  changes, 
and  these  we  trace  back  and  back  again  to  antecedent 
causes. 

But  at  last  we  come  to  the  grand  question,  "Who 
first  started  this  vast  system  of  endless  and  wonderful 
contrivances  ?" 

Only  two  replies  are  possible.  The  first  is  that  of 
the  atheist,  that  the  whole  started  into  existence  with- 
out a  cause,  which  we  have  shown  that  no  sane  mind 
can  really  believe. 

The  only  remaining  reply  is,  tliere  is  soTue  great 


PEINCIPLES  OF  REASON,  OR  INTUITIVE  TRUTHS.     17 

self-existent  Cause,  xoho  never  began  to  he,  and  who  is 
the  author  of  the  universe  of  matter  and  mind.^ 

It  must,  however,  be  conceded  tliat  this  intuitive 
truth  does  not  aid  us  in  deciding  what  is  the  nature 
and  character  of  this  First  Cause.  "We  are  obliged  to 
resort  to  other  intuitive  truths  to  settle  this  question. 

Neither  does  this  principle  aid  us  in  deciding  wheth- 
er there  may  not  be  more  than  one  self-existent  cause ; 
for  several  minds  can  be  supposed  to  have  united  in  wiU 
and  action  to  bring  forth  this  "universal  frame,"  each 
one  of  which  might  have  existed  without  beginning. 

The  second  intuitive  truth  is  this : 

Two  CLASSES  OF  CAUSES  EXIST,  VIZ.,  MATERIAL 
THINGS,  WHICH  ACT  ON  MIND,  AND  IMMATERIAL  OR 
SPIRITUAL  THINGS,  WHICH  ACT  ON  MATTER. 

Some  metaphysicians  maintain  that  every  thing  is 
matter,  and  that  mind  or  spirit  is  only  one  particular 
species  of  matter.  Others  teach  that  every  thing  is 
mind,  and  that  all  which  we  suppose  to  be  material 
things  are  merely  ideas  in  the  mind  of  what  really  has 
no  existence. 

Now  we  have  no  mode  of  proving  that  we  have  a 

soul  or  that  we  have  a  body,  or  that  there  are  any  real 

things  existing  around  us.     But  God  has  so  formed 

our  minds  that  we  can  not  help  believing  that  our 

minds  are  distinct  from  matter,  and  that  they  are  causes 

of  changes  in  our  body  and  in  the  things  around  us. 

Nor  can  we  help  believing  that  we  have  bodies,  and 

that  the  things  around  us  are  realities.     And  no  man 

could  talk  or  act,  in  practical  matters,  with  a  contrary 

belief,  without  being  regarded   as  having  "lost  his 

reason." 

*  Note  A. 


18  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

The  third  intuitive  truth  is,  that  the  mind  of  man 

IS  A  FREE  agent. 

By  this  is  signified  that  mind  is  an  independent 
cause  of  its  own  volitions,  and  capable,  in  appropriate 
circumstances,  of  choosing  in  either  of  two  or  more 
ways,  not  being,  like  matter,  forced  to  a  fixed  and  nec- 
essary mode  of  action. 

Some  changes  in  mind  are  necessary  effects  pro- 
duced by  causes  out  of  the  mind.  And  some  mental 
action  is  the  necessary  result  of  its  constitution,  and 
can  not  be  otherwise.  But  choice  or  volition  is  an  act 
of  the  mind  itself,  when  it  has  power  to  choose  in  either 
of  two  or  more  ways  without  any  change  of  circum- 
stances. 

The  fatalist  denies  this,  and  maintains  that  choice  is 
a  necessary  act,  the  same  as  the  changes  in  matter,  and 
that  at  each  act  of  choice  the  mind  had  no  power  to 
choose  otherwise  than  as  it  does  choose. 

In  reply  to  this,  nothing  is  needed  but  to  show  that 
all  men  believe,  and  show  it  by  their  words  and  actions, 
that  they  always  have  power  to  choose  more  ways  than 
one.  And  after  they  have  chosen  a  particular  way, 
they  still  believe  that  they  had  the  power  to  have 
chosen  another  way.  And  though  metaphysicians  may 
deny  this  in  words,  if  any  one  of  them,  in  practical  ev- 
ery-day  life,  should  talk  and  act  as  if  he  believed  that 
he  had  no  power  to  choose  otherwise  than  as  he  does, 
he  would  be  regarded  as  having  "lost  his  reason." 

This  subject  has  often  been  so  treated  as  to  embar- 
rass some  of  the  most  acute  minds.  Yet  the  ordi- 
nary mind  is  as  perfectly  qualified  to  settle  this  ques- 
tion as  the  most  astute  philosopher.     Do  men  believe 


PKINCIPLES  OF  REASON,  OR  INTUITIVE  TRUTHS.    19 

that  they  have  no  power  to  choose  any  other  way  than 
as  they  do  choose?  Do  they  talk  and  act  in  com- 
mon life  as  if  they  believed  it  ?  Would  not  a  man 
who  talked  and  acted  on  the  assumption  that  he  had 
no  power  to  choose  otherwise  than  as  he  does  choose 
be  regarded  as  having  "  lost  his  reason  ?" 

All  men  of  common  sense  must  answer  these  ques- 
tions alike,  and  thus  decide  that  this  is  one  of  the  in- 
tuitive truths. 

The  fourth  intuitive  truth  is,  that  design  is  evi- 
dence OF  AN  INTELLIGENT  CAUSE,  AND  THE  NATURE 
OF  A  DESIGN  PROVES  THE  INTENTION  AND  CHARACTER 
OF  THE  AUTHOR. 

It  is  by  the  aid  of  this  principle  of  reason  that  we 
gain  a  knowledge  of  the  character  and  designs  of  our 
Creator.  All  minds  are  so  constituted  that  when  they 
find  a  contrivance  fitted  to  accomplish  some  end,  they 
can  not  help  believing  that  the  author  of  it  is  an  intel- 
ligent cause,  and  that  he  intended  to  secure  that  end. 

This  position  is  finely  illustrated  by  Paley.  He  de- 
scribes a  savage  finding  a  watch  in  a  desert,  who  is 
made  to  comprehend  all  its  curious  contrivances  for 
marking  time.  This  savage,  he  claims,  would  inevi- 
tably conclude  that  some  intelligent  person  made  the 
watch,  and  that  it  was  his  design  to  have  it  keep 
time. 

In  like  manner,  should  the  residence  of  a  person  be 
inspected,  and  be  found  filled  with  contrivances  for 
producing  mischief  and  for  torturing  men  and  animals, 
the  result  would  be  a  belief  that  the  author  of  these 
things  was  cruel  and  malignant.  On  the  other  hand, 
were  these  contrivances  calculated  to  produce  only  com- 


20  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

fort  and  happiness,  the  inevitable  belief  would  follow 
that  the  contriver  was  benevolent. 

Again,  if  these  designs  were  found  to  involve  pow- 
erful and  magnificent  results,  the  immediate  belief 
would  follow  that  the  author  was  wise  and  powerful  as 
well  as  benevolent. 

This  illustrates  the  method  by  which  this  implanted 
principle  of  reason  enables  us  to  learn  the  design  and 
character  of  the  Author  of  the  universe  by  the  works 
of  creation. 

The  fifth  intuitive  truth  is,  that  NO  eational  mind 

WILL  choose  evil  WITHOUT  ANY  HOPE  OF  COMPEN- 
SATING GOOD. 

The  fact  that  any  person  was  seeking  pain  and  evil 
without  hope  of  compensating  good  would  prove  to  all 
that  "  reason  was  lost."     No  sane  mind  ever  acts  thus. 

It  is  by  the  aid  of  this  intuitive  truth  that  we  rely 
on  human  testimony.  The  surest  mode  of  establish- 
ing the  reliability  of  a  witness  is  to  show  that  by  false 
testimony  he  would  knowingly  incur  evil  and  gain  no 
good.  In  such  circumstances  no  one  would  believe 
that  a  witness  would  be  false. 

The  sixth  intuitive  truth  is,  that  things  will  con- 
tinue AS  they  aee  and  have  been  till  there  is 

EVIDENCE  OF  A  CHANGE  OR  OF  A  CAUSE  FOR  A  CHANGE. 

All  the  business  of  this  life  rests  on  a  belief  in  this 
implanted  truth,  and  equally  so  do  our  inferences  in 
regard  to  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  a  future  state. 

The  belief  that  the  sun  will  continue  to  rise,  or  that 
the  seasons  wiU  return,  rests  solely  on  the  fact  that 
these  events  have  been  uniform  in  past  time,  and  that 
we  know  of  no  cause  for  a  change  from  this  uniformity. 


PKINCIPLES   OF   REASON,  OR  INTUITIVE  TRUTHS.     21 

And  were  any  person  to  talk  and  act  as  if  destitute  of 
this  belief,  he  would  be  deemed  insane. 

Bishop  Butler's  celebrated  argument  on  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul  is  founded  entirely  on  this  principle. 
It  is  briefly  this : 

Things  will  continue  as  they  are  and  have  been  un- 
less there  is  some  evidence  of  some  change  or  cause 
for  a  change.  Ai  death  the  soul  exists.  The  disso- 
lution of  the  body  is  no  evidence  of  the  destruction  of 
the  soul,  and  there  is  no  kiod  of  evidence  that  it  is  de- 
stroyed. Therefore  we  infer  that  the  soul  continues 
to  exist  after  the  dissolution  of  the  body. 

The  main  point  in  this  argument  is  to  show  that 
there  is  no  evidence  that  the  act  of  death  involves  the 
destruction  of  the  soul.  If  this  can  be  established, 
then  the  belief  must  follow  that  the  soul  exists  after 
death.  By  the  same  method  Butler  establishes  sev- 
eral other  doctrines  of  the  Bible. 

It  is  by  the  aid  of  this  principle  that  what  are  called 
the  laws  of  nature  are  estabhshed.  By  means  of  hu- 
man testimony  we  learn  what  has  been  the  uniform 
course  of  nature.  And  then  men  conclude  that  what 
has  been  will  continue  to  be  untU  some  new  cause  in- 
tervenes to  change  this  uniformity. 

The  seventh  intuitive  truth  is,  that  the  NEEDLESS 
DESTRUCTION  OF  HAPPINESS  OR  INFLICTION  OF  PAIN 
IS  WRONG,  and  THAT  WHATEVER  TENDS  TO  PRODUCE 
THE  MOST  HAPPINESS  IS  RIGHT. 

The  terms  right  and  wrong,  as  used  by  mankind, 
always  have  reference  to  some  ^j>Z«?i  or  design.  Any 
thing  is  called  right  when  it  fulfills  the  design  for  which 
it  is  made,  and  it  is  called  wrong  when  it  does  not. 


22  THE  BIBLE   AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

Thus  a  watch  is  right  when  it  fulfills  its  design  in 
keeping  time.  A  compass  is  right  when  it  points  to 
the  north.     And  so  of  all  contrivances. 

Of  course,  then,  the  question  as  to  the  right  and 
wrong  action  of  mind  involves  a  reference  to  the  ob- 
ject or  design  of  the  Author  of  mind.  At  this  time  it 
will  be  assumed  (the  proof  being  reserved  for  future 
pages)  that  the  design  or  object  for  which  God  made 
mind  was  to  jyroduce  the  greatest  ^possible  hajyjpiness 
with  the  least  possible  evil. 

It  is  also  assumed,  without  here  exhibiting  the  proof, 
that  tlie  impression  of  this  design  is  so  inwrought  into 
the  mental  constitution  that  whatever  is  perceived  to 
be  destructive  to  happiness  is  felt  to  be  icrong — that 
is,  xmfitted  to  the  design  of  the  Author  of  all  things, 
which  the  mind  feels  often  when  it  can  not  logically 
set  forth  the  reason.  So,  also,  whatever  is  seen  to 
promote  the  greatest  amount  of  happiness  is  felt  to  be 
right. 

The  mind  is  so  constituted  that,  without  any  act  of 
reasoning  as  to  the  tendencies  of  things,  there  are  cer- 
tain feelings  and  actions  that  the  mind  turns  from  as 
unfit  and  to  be  abhorred. 

Thus,  when  plighted  faith  is  violated,  or  a  great  ben- 
efactor treated  with  cruelty  and  indignity  by  those  he 
has  benefited,  a  feeling  of  unfitness  and  abhorrence  is 
awakened,  independent  of  all  considerations  of  the  ten- 
dency of  such  conduct  to  destroy  happiness. 

In  like  manner,  there  are  certain  acts  of  gratitude 
and  benevolence  that  always  awaken  approval  and  ad- 
miration as  suitable  and  right,  without  any  reference 
to  future  tendencies  or  results. 


PKINCIPLES   OF  REASON,  OR   INTUITIVE  TRUTHS       23 

At  the  same  time,  it  is  true  that  when,  by  a  process 
of  reasoning,  it  is  seen  that  the  tendency  of  any  course 
of  conduct  is  to  diminish  happiness  or  inflict  evil  with- 
out compensating  good,  there  arises  the  same  feeling 
of  disapproval  of  it  as  wrong,  and  unfitted  to  the  end 
for  which  all  things  are  made.  This  is  often  the  case 
when  there  is  no  definite,  distinct  idea  of  what  the 
great  design  of  the  Creator  may  be. 

This  belief  and  feehng  of  unfitness  and  wrongfiilness 
is  common  to  all  sane  minds.  It  is  true  that  there  are 
different  views  of  what  actions  are  destructive  to  hap- 
piness, but  when  there  is  a  clear  perception  that  a  given 
act  will  do  great  harm  and  no  good,  every  mind  will 
feel  that  it  is  wrong  ;  and  when  it  is  seen  that  any  act 
will  do  good  without  any  evil,  it  is  felt  to  be  right. 
And  this  is  so  universal,  that  if  any  one  should  be 
found  to  talk  and  act  with  a  contrary  belief,  he  would 
be  regarded  as  having  lost  a  part  of  that  which  con- 
stitutes him  a  rational  being. 

The  eighth  intuitive  truth  is,  that  the  evidence  of 

OUR  SENSES  IS  reliable. 

This  statement  needs  some  qualification.  It  often 
requires  time  to  learn  accurately  what  our  senses  do 
testify,  and  sometimes  the  apparent  experience  of  the 
senses  proves  incorrect.  For  example,  to  one  just  re- 
stored to  sight,  every  object  seems  to  touch  the  eye, 
and  distances  are  learned  only  by  experience.  So  the 
sun  and  stars  seem  to  move,  when  it  is  the  earth  that 
is  turning.  So,  also,  the  senses  are  sometimes  diseased 
or  disordered,  and  make  false  reports. 

The  true  meaning,  then,  of  the  above  intuitive  truth 
is,  that  when  men  know  that  they  have  had  all  requi- 


24  THE   BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

site  experience,  and  understand  properly  all  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case,  they  can  not  help  believing  the 
evidence  of  their  senses,  and  when  this  belief  is  lost,  a 
person  is  regarded  as  insane. 

The  ninth  intuitive  truth  is,  that  whenever  there 
IS  A  change  in  the  established  order  of  nature 
surpassing  human  power,  it  is  evidence  of  a  su- 
pernatural agency  that  is  sanctioned  by  the 
Author  of  the  laws  of  Nature. 

The  conviction  of  the  wisdom  and  power  of  the  Au- 
thor of  this  vast  and  wonderful  frame  around  us  is 
such  that  whatever  changes  may  occur  in  its  estab- 
lished order  must  be  felt  to  be  by  his  permission. 

To  illustrate  this,  suppose  a  man  appeared  claiming 
to  be  a  teacher  sent  from  God.  In  proof  of  this,  he 
commands  a  mountain  to  be  uptom  and  thrown  into 
the  sea.  Now,  if  this  phenomenon  should  follow  his 
command,  it  would  be  impossible  for  any  who  wit- 
nessed it  to  refrain  from  believing  that  the  Author  of 
Nature  performed  this  miracle  to  attest  the  authority 
of  his  messenger. 

In  order  to  insure  this  belief  in  the  interference  of 
Deity,  there  must  be  full  evidence  that  there  can  be 
no  deception,  and  that  the  miraculous  performance  is 
entirely  beyond  human  power  and  skill.  JMen  always 
talk  and  act  on  the  assumption  that  such  miracles  are 
from  God,  and  that  all  rational  minds  so  regard  them. 

The  tenth  intuitive  truth  is,  that  in  all  practi- 
cal CONCERNS  WE  ARE  TO  CONSIDER  THAT  COURSE 
RIGHT  WHICH  HAS  THE  BALANCE  OF  EVIDENCE  IN  ITS 
FAVOR. 

There  are  few  practical  questions  where  we  can 


PEINCIPLES  OF  REASON,  OR  INTUITIVE  TRUTHS.    25 

have  perfect  certainty  as  to  the  right  course.  In  al- 
most all  the  concerns  of  life  men  are  guided  by  jprob- 
abilities.  It  is  not  certain  that  seed  will  spring  up, 
or  that  a  shij)  will  return,  or  that  a  given  medicine  will 
cure,  or  that  any  future  project  will  succeed  ;  but  men 
go  forward  in  their  pursuits  with  exactly  the  same  de- 
cision as  if  the  probabilities  that  guide  them  were  cer- 
tainties. They  find  which  course  has  the  most  evi- 
dence in  its  favor,  and  then  act  as  if  it  was  certain 
that  this  was  the  right  course  to  attain  their  designs. 

And  if  any  person  should  habitually  act  as  if  he  be- 
lieved the  reverse,  he  would  be  regarded  as  having  lost 
his  reason. 

The  eleventh  intuitive  truth  is,  that  nothing  IS  TO 

BE  ASSUMED  AS  TRUE  UNLESS  THERE  IS  SOaiE  EVI- 
DENCE THAT  IT  IS  SO. 

This  principle  is  always  assumed  in  aU  practical  af- 
fairs. If  a  man  were  to  send  a  cargo  abroad  without 
any  evidence  that  it  was  wanted,  he  would  be  called  a 
fool;  and  so  in  all  other  concerns,  every  sane  man 
takes  this  for  his  rule  of  conduct. 

The  preceding  include  the  principles  which  it  is 
believed  are  the  grand  foundation  on  which  rest  most 
of  the  practical  knowledge  of  life,  as  well  as  the  doc- 
trines and  duties  both  of  natural  and  revealed  religion. 

There  are  some  other  intuitive  truths  which  are  not 
introduced  here,  and  there  are  some  principles  that 
others  have  placed  in  this  honorable  position  which 
could  not  stand  the  test  here  introduced,  and  claimed 
to  be  the  only  true  and  reliable  one. 

The  intuitive  truths  have  been  called  "  fundamental 
truths,"  because  they  are  the  ultimate  basis  of  all 

B 


26  THE  BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

knowledge  secured  or  established  by  tlie  process  of 
reaso7ii7ig. 

This  process  consists  in  assuming  a  certain  propo- 
sition to  be  true  as  the  basis  of  an  argument.  K  this 
proposition  is  granted,  or  supposed  to  be  granted,  then 
the  reasoner  proceeds  to  show  that  the  point  in  dispute 
is  in  reality  included  in  the  truth  already  granted,  so 
that  believing  the  first  proposition,  or  basis,  necessari- 
ly involves  a  belief  in  the  one  to  be  proved. 

For  example,  if  a  man  wishes  to  prove  that  a  certain 
person  is  a  benevolent  man,  he  proceeds  thus : 

Let  it  be  gi-anted  that  all  persons  who  are  habitual- 
ly contriving  and  laboring  to  promote  the  happiness  of 
all  around  them  are  benevolent  persons.  This  basis 
proposition  being  conceded  to  be  true,  the  reasoner  pro- 
ceeds to  present  evidence  that  the  person  in  question 
habitually  is  laboring  for  the  good  of  others.  This 
being  done,  he  draws  the  conclusion  that  this  person 
is  included  in  the  class  which  have  been  granted  to  be 
benevolent. 

J^easo7iijiff, ihen,is  a  process  for  exhibiting  e\idence 
that  a  point  which  is  disputed  is  included  in  a  propo- 
sition already  believed  and  allowed. 

But  suppose  the  disputant  denies  the  truth  of  the 
basis  or  foundation  proposition,  then  it  becomes  nec- 
essary to  establish  that  proposition  by  another  act  of 
reasoning.  In  order  to  do  this,  still  another  proposi- 
tion is  assumed  which  is  allowed  to  be  true,  and 
which  the  reasoner  then  attempts  to  show  includes 
his  former  basis  proposition. 

This  process  may  thus  be  continued  till,  finally,  it 
comes  to  pass  that  the  basis  proposition  assumed  is 


PRINCIPLES  OF  REASON,  OR  INTUITIVE  TRUTHS.    27 

an  intuitive  truth.  In  this  case  the  victory  is  secure ; 
for  whatever  can  be  shown  to  be  embraced  in  an  in- 
tuitive truth  must  be  conceded  to  be  true,  and  whatev- 
er is  contradictory  to  an  intuitive  truth  must  be  al- 
lowed to  be  false. 

Now  it  can  be  shown  that  all  the  reliable  practical 
knowledge  of  this  life  can  be  thus  traced  back  till  it  is 
seen  to  rest  on  some  intuitive  truth  as  its  basis. 

So,  also,  all  the  doctrines  and  duties,  both  of  natural 
and  revealed  religion,  can  be  shown  to  rest  on  these  in- 
tuitive tiTiths.  This  indicates  the  propriety  of  the 
name  given  to  these  first  principles  as  principles  of 
reason  smdi  fundamental  truths. 

Here,  then,  is  presented  the  foundation  of  the  hope 
so  confidently  expressed,  that  a  time  is  coming  when, 
in  all  the  great  questions  which  now  agitate  humanity 
with  doubts,  discussions,  and  conflict,  there  shall  result 
universal  harmony  and  unity  of  opinion.  If  such  in- 
tuitive principles  are  implanted  in  all  human  minds ; 
if  there  is  a  certain  test  by  which  these  principles  can 
be  eliminated  and  established  ;  and  if,  by  a  sure  proc- 
ess of  reasoning,  every  correct  practical  and  religious 
opinion  can  be  shown  to  rest  on  these  principles,  and 
every  false  one  to  contradict  them,  then  we  can  plainly 
perceive  the  true  path  to  this  golden  age. 

It  is  to  cultivate  the  powers  of  the  human  intellect, 
to  train  every  mind,  from  early  life,  to  detect  the  true 
laws  of  reason,  and  to  practice  accurately  the  process 
of  reasoning.  Not  that  this  alone  will  suffice  vithout 
the  attending  cultivation  of  the  moral  powers,  and  the 
promised  blessing  of  heavenly  aid.    But  the  first  would 


28  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

powerfully  tend  to  secure  the  second,  and  then  the 
third  would  inevitably  be  bestowed. 

Before  proceeding  farther,  it  is  desirable  to  recognize 
the  fact  that  the  word  reason  is  used  in  several  ways. 
Sometimes  it  signifies  simply  the  intuitive  truths. 
Sometimes  it  includes  all  those  principles  and  powers 
of  mind  which  are  employed  in  the  act  of  reasoning. 
Sometimes  it  refers  to  the  intellect  in  distinction  from 
the  feelings.  In  all  cases,  however,  the  connection  will 
determine  in  which  of  these  uses  it  is  employed. 


SOUECES  OF  HUMAN   KNOWLEDGE.  29 


CHAPTER  III. 

SOUECES   OF   HUMAN  KNOWLEDGE. 

We  have  seen  that  there  are  certain  intuitive  truths, 
the  belief  of  which  is  implanted  as  a  part  of  our  men- 
tal constitution,  and  that  there  is  a  test  by  which  we 
can  distinguish  them  from  all  other  kinds  of  knowl- 
edge. 

We  have  seen,  also,  that  we  are  dependent  on  these 
truths  for  a  large  portion  of  our  acquired  knowledge, 
inasmuch  as  they  are  the  basis  of  reasoning^  which  is 
that  process  by  which  we  gain  new  truths  by  the  aid 
of  those  already  believed. 

It  has  been  intimated,  also,  that  it  is  chiefly  by  the 
aid  of  these  principles  that  a  harmonious  system  of 
truth  is  to  be  anticipated,  in  which  all  minds  wiU  event- 
ually agree,  at  least  in  all  great  questions  involving  the 
eternal  interests  of  our  race. 

We  will  now  proceed  in  an  inquuy  as  to  what  are 
the  sources  of  human  knowledge  in  addition  to  these 
first  implanted  truths. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  we  have  our  own  personal 
experience  of  the  nature  and  action  of  our  own  minds, 
and  of  the  qualities  and  powers  of  the  persons  and 
things  around  us.  Next  we  have  the  experience  of 
other  minds  as  to  their  own  mental  history  and  the 
properties  and  powers  of  all  that  has  surrounded  them. 
This  knowledge  is  communicated  by  them  to  us  either 


30  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

directly  by  word  of  mouth,  or  indirectly  by  writings 
and  books. 

The  experience  of  a  single  mind  is  very  limited 
both  as  to  space  and  time,  and  it  is  only  by  the  united 
experience  of  many  persons,  in  different  periods  and 
places,  that  we  arrive  at  what  are  called  the  laws  of 
nature  and  experience.  The  laws  of  day  and  night, 
summer  and  winter,  the  tides,  and  all  the  other  phe- 
nomena of  natui'e,  are  simply  a  uniform  succession  and 
regularity  of  events,  from  which  men  infer  a  future 
regularity  of  the  same  experience.  i\Iuch  of  this  knowl- 
edge of  past  uniformity  is  transmitted  from  others  to 
us,  and  rests  on  our  confidence  in  human  testimony, 
and  it  has  been  shown  that  this  confidence  is  based  on 
one  of  the  intuitive  truths. 

Xext,  we  have  the  knowledge  gained  by  the  process 
of  reasoning,  and  for  this  we  are  dependent  on  the  in- 
tuitive truths  which  are  the  foundation  of  all  rehable 
deductions. 

Lastly,  we  have  the  resource  of  revelations  from  the 
Creator  of  all,  who  can  communicate  to  us  knowledge 
that  we  can  not  gain  either  by  intuition,  or  experience, 
or  reasoning. 

In  regard  to  the  kinds  of  knowledge  to  be  gained 
from  each  of  these  sources,  it  is  clear  that  the  experi- 
ence of  ourselves  and  others  furnishes  us  with  nothing 
but  facts,  as  it  regards  matter  and  mind,  as  they  are 
developed  in  this  world  only.  As  it  respects  the  Cre- 
ator, his  character  and  designs,  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  and  the  future  destiny  of  our  race,  we  gain  noth- 
ing by  our  own  personal  observation  or  experience. 
"  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time."     No  one  has 


SOUECES   OF   HUINIAN   KNOWLEDGE.  31 

gone  to  "  the  silent  land"  to  learn  by  inspection  the 
secrets  of  that  dim  shore,  or  the  destiny  of  the  soul 
when  it  passes  from  earth. 

Neither  have  we  any  resource  in  the  experience  of 
others  who  can  go  to  the  invisible  world  and  transmit 
to  us  the  knowledge  there  gained.  There  is  not  a 
man  upon  earth  that  can  furnish  any  reliable  informa- 
tion on  these  subjects  from  any  personal  knowledge. 

It  becomes,  then,  a  most  interesting  inquiry  as  to 
the  amount  and  kind  of  knowledge  to  be  gained  by 
means  of  the  intuitive  truths,  experience,  and  reason- 
ing, independently  of  revelation.  In  what  follows  this 
inquiry  will  be  pursued. 


32        THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 


CHAPTEE  IV. 

OF  THE  KNOWLEDGE  GAINED  BY  HUIMAN  EXPERIENCE 
IN  EEGAED  TO  THE  NATURE  OF  MIND  AND  THE  LAWS 
OF  THE  SYSTEM  OF  WHICH  IT  IS  A  PART. 

We  have  seen  that  there  are  only  these  sources  of 
human  knowledge,  viz.,  the  mtuitive  tricths,  human 
experience,  reasoning,  and  revelation.  We  have  al- 
luded to  the  nature  of  intuitive  knowledge ;  we  will 
now  inquire  as  to  the  nature  of  the  knowledge  gained 
by  human  experience,  firstly,  in  regard  to  the  constitu- 
tion of  mind  and  the  laws  of  that  system  in  which  it 
is  jplaced.  We  restrict  our  inquiries  to  those  points 
which  have  the  most  direct  bearing  on  the  great  ques- 
tions to  be  discussed. 

As  it  respects  the  nature  of  mind,  then,  as  exhibited 
by  experience,  we  learn,  in  the  first  place,  that  it  is  con- 
stituted with  desires  and  propensities  for  various  kinds 
of  enjoyment.  These  are  the  gratifications  secured  by 
the  senses,  the  pleasures  of  taste,  the  happiness  of 
giving  and  receiving  afiection,  the  various  intellectual 
pleasures,  and  the  still  higher  enjoyment  resulting 
from  our  moral  nature.  AU  these  are  common  to  the 
race,  though  in  varied  degrees  and  combinations.  The 
mind  is  also  constituted  with  susceptibilities  to  pain 
and  sufiering  from  all  the  sources  from  which  enjoy- 
ment may  spring. 

With  these  susceptibilities  are  combined  an  all-per- 
vading and  constant  desire  to  gain  enjoyment  and  to 


KNOWLEDGE  BY  HUIVIAN  EXPERIENCE,  ETC.       33 

escape  suffering.  This  desire  is  the  grand  "motive  pow- 
er to  the  mind,  as  the  main-spring  is  to  a  watch.  For 
this  reason,  awakened  desires  to  gain  any  particular  en- 
joyment or  escape  any  pain  are  called  inotives.  And 
so,  also,  all  those  things  that  cause  these  desires  are 
called  motives. 

Next,  it  is  seen  that  the  mind  is  endowed  with  in- 
tellect, or  the  intellectual  powers,  by  which  it  can  per- 
ceive the  nature  and  relative  value  of  various  kinds  of 
enjoyment,  compare  the  present  with  the  future,  and 
judge  both  of  what  is  most  valuable  and  of  the  proper 
modes  of  securing  it. 

To  this  add  the  power  of  choice  or  volition,  by  which, 
in  view  of  any  two  or  more  kinds  of  enjoyment,  the 
mind  decides  which  shall  be  secured  and  which  be  de- 
nied. 

Thus  constituted,  the  mind  comes  into  action  in  a 
system  of  law. 

By  this  is  signified  that  in  every  direction  in  which 
man  can  seek  enjoyment  there  is  a  right  course,  or  one 
that  secures  the  good  sought  in  such  proper  degrees 
and  at  such  times  as  that  the  enjoyment  designed  is 
the  result.  At  the  same  time  there  is  a  wrong  course, 
or  one  in  which  the  enjoyment  sought  is  not  secured, 
or,  if  gained,  is  combined  with  pain  and  disappoint- 
ment. 

Thus  there  are  right  and  wrong  modes  of  seeking 
all  the  multiplied  kinds  of  enjoyment,  while  to  the  right 
course  is  attached  the  reward  of  pleasure,  and  with  the 
wrong  course  is  connected  the  penalty  of  pain,  either 
immediate  or  remote. 

Again,  our  minds  come  into  existence  in  a  social 
B2 


34  THE  BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

system  so  constituted  that  the  rewards  and  penalties 
of  law  extend,  not  merely  to  the  good  and  evil  doer, 
but  to  those  connected  with  him.  Thus  each  mind  is 
made  dependent  for  happiness  on  the  well-doing  of 
those  around  almost  as  much  as  on  its  own  obedience  to 
law.  The  penalties  for  the  sins  of  parents  fall  on  their 
children,  and  the  sins  of  children  are  visited  on  their 
parents,  and  thus  in  all  the  other  relations  of  life. 
Equally  so  are  the  rewards  of  obedience  shared  by  all 
who  are  connected  with  the  well-doer. 

Thus  it  appears  that  in  this  life  ha2ypiness  is  the 
joint  product  of  the  obedience  of  each  individual  and 
the  obedience  of  all  connected  with  him  to  the  laws  of 
the  vast  system  in  which  we  are  placed. 

Again,  each  mind  comes  into  this  system  of  law  in 
perfect  ignorance  of  the  right  and  wrong  courses  to  be 
pursued.  At  the  commencement  of  being  there  has 
been  no  knowledge  of  good  or  of  evil  to  call  forth  de- 
sire or  fear,  while  the  only  conceivable  way  in  which 
such  a  being  can  be  taught  law,  and  its  penalties  and 
rewards,  is  by  experience.  Good  must  be  tasted  be- 
fore the  desire  for  it  can  come,  and  evil  must  be  felt 
before  the  fear  of  it  can  arise. 

After  there  has  been  some  experience  of  pleasure 
and  pain,  and  such  advance  in  knowledge  as  that  oth- 
ers around  can  teach  the  new-comer  what  are  the  right 
and  wrong  courses,  then  faith  or  belief  becomes  the 
leading  mode  of  safety.  From  this  time  happiness  or 
suffering  will  be  proportioned  to  the  truth  of  the  in- 
structions given,  to  the  faith  accorded,  and  to  the  obe- 
dience rendered. 

In  this  complicated  system  of  law,  it  is  found  that 


KNOWLEDGE   BY  HUMAN   EXPEKIENCE,  ETC.       35 

the  great  Author  of  all  is  never  moved  to  modify  or  sus- 
pend the  penalties  of  wrong-doing  by  commiseration  for 
the  inevitable  ignorance  of  inexperienced  beings,  nor  by 
pity  when  wrong  instructions  are  given,  nor  by  sym- 
pathy for  the  pain  inflicted.  Obedience^  exact,  con- 
stant, persevering — this  is  the  only  mode  of  securing 
the  enjoyment  and  escaping  the  pain  that  are  the  sanc- 
tions of  law. 

And  not  only  so,  but  it  is  often  the  case  that  diso- 
bedience to  some  law  in  only  one  instance  will  de- 
stroy the  comfort  and  usefulness  of  a  whole  life.  Nay, 
more,  the  neglect  or  the  mistake  of  a  parent  sometimes 
will  bring  the  penalty  of  violated  law  on  some  innocent 
child,  whose  whole  life  will  thus  be  made  miserable. 

Again,  it  is  found  that  the  sources  of  enjoyment  are 
of  different  relative  value. 

In  the  commencement  of  existence  pleasure  is  se- 
cured mainly  through  the  senses.  Next  come  the 
higher  social  and  domestic  pleasures ;  then  follow  the 
intellectual  enjoyments,  the  various  gratifications  of 
taste,  and  all  the  multitudinous  resources  oj^en  to  a 
highly-cultivated,  virtuous,  and  religious  man. 

The  greater  the  number  of  these  sources,  and  the 
more  elevated  the  nature  of  each,  the  greater  the  de- 
gree of  happiness  gained. 

Such,  also,  is  the  nature  of  things,  that  the  lower 
kinds  of  happiness  are  placed  first  within  our  reach, 
and  then,  as  the  higher  modes  of  enjoyment  come,  we 
often  find  them  incompatible  with  the  others,  so  that 
to  obtain  these  we  must,  to  some  extent,  relinquish  the 
humbler  classes.  Thus,  when  a  child  begins  to  find 
the  value  of  intellectual  attainments,  he  sees  they  can 


36      -  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

not  be  gained  without  a  sacrifice  of  many  indulgences 
that  are  of  an  inferior  value. 

We  now  come  to  the  grand  law  of  the  system  in 
which  we  are  placed,  as  it  has  been  developed  by  the 
experience  of  our  race,  and  that,  in  one  word,  is 

SACRIFICE ! 

Each  mind  finds  that  it  has  conflicting  desires,  so 
that  one  class  must  constantly  be  sacrificed  to  another 
of  superior  value.  And  the  rule  in  reference  to  indi- 
vidual enjoyment  is  ''^  always  to  sacrifice  the  lesser  for 
the  greater  good,  having  reference  to  the  future  as 
inuch  as  to  the  present'^'' 

This  is  the  lesson  of  self-denial  and  self-control  first 
taught  to  infancy  and  childhood,  and  just  as  fast  as  the 
reasoning  powers  are  developed,  the  extent  of  this  far- 
reaching  rule  is  impressed  on  the  mind.  At  first  this 
rule  is  applied  to  the  young  child  himself,  and  he  is 
trained  chiefly  to  understand  what  will  injure  or  bene- 
fit himself. 

But  gradually  a  new  and  higher  law  begins  to  ap- 
pear. As  soon  as  the  child  can  be  made  to  understand 
that  he  is  surrounded  by  other  minds,  who  can  sufier 
and  enjoy  by  the  same  rules  that  regulate  his  happi- 
ness, he  begins  to  leani  the  other  and  still  higher  law 
of  sacrifice  ;  and  that  is,  that  *'  the  lesser  good  of  the 
individual  is  always  to  he  sacrificed  to  the  greater  good 
of  the  "inany, having  reference  always  to  the  future  as 
much  as  to  the  present.^'' 

Thus  life  commences  with  desires  that  are  to  be 
controlled  and  denied,  first  by  parental  power  and  in- 
fluence, and  next  by  the  intellect  and  will  of  the  child. 


KNOWLEDGE  BY  HUMAN  EXPEEIENCE,  ETC.       37 

And  the  farther  life  advances,  the  more  numerous  and 
complicated  are  the  occasions  where  intellect  must 
judge  what  is  best  for  self,  and  what  is  best  for  the 
commonwealth,  whose  interests  must  have  precedence. 

And  as  self-denial  always  involves  more  or  less  pain, 
it  becomes  a  fact  that  happiness  is  to  be  gained  only 
by  more  or  less  suffering. 

Moreover,  the  greater  the  good  to  be  gained,  the 
greater  is  the  self-denial  and  suffering  involved  in  its 
attainment.  Though  there  are  exceptions,  this  cer- 
tainly  is  the  general  rule. 

The  history  of  an  individual  is  a  history  of  self-con- 
quest. It  is  a  history  of  the  self-denial  and  suffering 
involved  in  subjecting  the  physical  to  the  intellectual, 
and  both  to  the  moral  nature. 

In  like  manner,  the  history  of  the  race,  from  infancy 
through  its  stages  of  barbarism,  heathenism,  civiliza- 
tion, and  Christianity,  is  a  process  of  suffering,  as  the 
lower  principles  of  humanity  are  gradually  subjected 
to  the  higher,  while  men  learn  to  give  up  lower  gratifi- 
cations for  the  more  elevated,  and  to  sacrifice  the  less- 
er good  of  the  minority  to  the  well-being  of  the  ma- 
jority. 

But  the  cheering  aspect  of  the  case  is  that  the  ef- 
fects of  suffering  are  salutary  and  tonic.  The  child 
who  is  trained  to  bear  cold  bravely,  to  undergo  toil, 
and  to  meet  crosses,  becomes  strong  in  body,  and  en- 
terprising and  energetic  in  spirit ;  while  a  course  of 
ease  and  indulgence  debilitates  both  mind  and  body. 
This  is  true  most  decidedly  when  such  a  course  is 
cheerfuUy  and  voluntarily  assumed,  and  is  not  forced 
merely  by  fear  of  penalties. 


38  THE  BIBLE   AND   TPIE   PEOPLE. 

The  same  is  true  of  communities.  Those  people 
who  live  in  a  cold  climate  and  on  a  hard  soil  become 
vigorous,  industrious,  and  enterprising ;  while  a  soft 
climate,  and  such  abundance  as  requires  no  self-denial 
and  toil,  tend  to  national  debility  and  decay. 

Another  fact  is  still  more  cheering,  and  that  is,  that 
the  more  a  habit  of  self-control  and  self-denial  is  form- 
ed, the  easier  they  become,  so  that  what  at  first  was 
severe  and  painful  may  become  a  pleasure.  Such  may 
be  the  progress  of  a  virtuous  mind,  that,  ultimately, 
acting  right,  or  conscious  rectitude,  may  become  more 
desirable  and  agreeable  than  any  other  mode  of  enjoy- 
ment. 

The  history  of  mankind  thus  far  shows  that  as  a 
race  we  are  progressing  to  higher  and  higher  happiness. 
As  we  take  the  history  of  each  nation  from  its  origin, 
we  find  it  a  development  of  progress  from  lower  to 
higher  degrees  of  enjoyment.  Then  we  find  periods 
of  retrocession  and  decay.  Still,  the  experience  of  one 
age  is  transmitted  more  or  less  to  another,  so  that,  on 
the  whole,  the  race  has  been  gaining,  both  as  to  the 
number  of  sources  of  enjoyment  received  and  as  to  the 
relative  value  of  the  enjoyments  sought.  The  propor- 
tion of  persons  who  secure  the  higher  class  of  enjoy- 
ments is  certainly  greater  now  than  at  any  former  pe- 
riod of  the  world's  history. 

Again,  the  history  of  the  world  teaches  us  that  while 
the  race  gains  in  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  the  system 
and  in  obedience  to  them,  there  are  vast  multitudes  to 
whom,  as  individuals,  this  life  is  a  total  failure.  Their 
career  has  involved  such  frequent  and  fatal  violations 
of  the  laws  of  the  system,  that  their  progress  is  con- 


KNOWLEDGE   BY   HIBIAN   EXPERIENCE,  ETC.       39 

stantly  downward  ;  and,  so  far  as  past  experience  gives 
any  data,  we  must  infer  that  continued  existence  would 
prove  a  continued  downward  progress.  The  glutton, 
the  drunkard,  the  miser,  the  sluggard,  the  licentious, 
the  selfish,  malignant,  and  cruel — all  these  are  bind- 
ing their  spirits  with  the  chains  of  habit,  rendering 
obedience  to  the  laws  they  are  violating  more  difficult 
and  improbable. 

But  then,  as  a  counterbalancing  result,  it  is  seen  that 
these  losses  to  individuals  are  made  available  to  the 
protection  and  improvement  of  the  race,  and  seem  in- 
dispensable to  it ;  for  it  is  the  example  of  the  evils 
suffered  by  wrong-doers  that  is  constantly  exercising 
a  preservative  influence  to  deter  others  from  similar 
courses.  Thus  good  is  constantly  educed  from  ill,  even 
in  the  most  melancholy  cases. 

We  have  seen  that  it  is  the  desire  of  good  and  fear 
of  evil  that  is  the  motive  power  in  causing  all  mental 
action,  and  we  have  the  history  of  man  to  teach  us  also 
what  kinds  of  motives  prove  the  most  effective  in  se- 
curing that  obedience  to  law  which  is  the  only  way  to 
true  and  perfect  happiness. 

Our  only  mode  of  learning  the  nature  of  a  thing  is 
to  observe  how  it  acts  and  is  acted  upon.  This  is  as 
true  of  mind  as  it  is  of  material  things.  What,  then, 
has  the  experience  of  our  race  taught  as  to  the  nature 
of  mind  in  reference  to  the  kinds  and  relative  influence 
of  motive  that  secure  obedience  to  law  ? 

In  the  first  place,  then,  we  learn  that  fear  of  evil 
is  indispensable.  As  soon  as  children  in  the  family, 
or  adults  in  society,  find  that  no  harm  comes  from  grat- 
ifying their  desires,  all  restraint  is  removed.    So  strong 


40  THE   BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

is  this  necessity,  that  when  natural  penalties  seem  un- 
certain or  far  off,  parents  and  civil  rulers  find  it  imper- 
ative to  add  those  which  are  more  immediate  and  dis- 
cernible. 

But  with  this  we  leam  that  fear  alone  is  not  a  health- 
ful stimulus.  Children  and  slaves  who  have  no  mo- 
tives to  action  but  fear  of  penalties  are  never  so  suc- 
cessfully led  to  obedience  as  when  other  more  agreea- 
ble influences  are  combined.  A  mind  that  is  constant- 
ly goaded  to  action  by  fear  of  evil  becomes  torpid,  or 
irritable,  or  despairing,  or  all  together.  The  hope  of 
good,  or  rewards,  then,  are  as  indispensable  to  secure 
obedience  to  law  as  penalties.  The  proper  balancing 
of  the  motives  of  fear  of  evil  and  hope  of  good  is  the 
grand  art  of  controlling  mind,  both  as  it  respects  indi- 
viduals and  communities. 

In  reference  to  those  motives  that  are  pleasurable, 
there  are  two  classes  which  it  is  veiy  important  to 
recognize.  The  first  class  are  those  sources  of  enjoy- 
ment which  are  sought  for  the  gratification  of  self 
without  any  reference  to  another.  Of  this  class  are 
the  pleasures  of  the  senses,  the  enjoyment  of  acqumng 
knowledge,  the  exercise  of  power,  the  pleasures  of  taste, 
and  others  that  need  not  here  be  specified. 

The  second  class  are  those  in  which  the  enjoyment 
is  secured  by  producing  happiness  for  others,  and  is 
sought  solely  in  reference  to  the  enjoyment  of  another. 
The  most  decided  illustration  of  this  kind  is  that  of  a 
mother  who  is  providing  for  her  offspring.  This  and 
all  true  love  has,  as  its  distinctive  feature,  the  pleasure 
found  in  conferring  happiness  on  the  beloved  object. 
Gratitude,  also,  has  for  its  main  element  the  desire  to 


KNOWLEDGE   BY  HUSIAN   EXFEEIENCE,  ETC.       41 

make  some  returns  of  enjoyment  to  one  who  Las  con- 
ferred a  favor. 

Experience  has  shown  that  the  most  powerful  of  all 
motives  in  securing  obedience  to  law  is  that  of  love. 

When  love  is  awakened  toward  a  superior  mind — 
when  this  superior  mind  knows  what  are  the  true  rules 
of  right  and  wrong,  and  is  deeply  interested  to  guide 
and  aid  the  inferior  mind — when  this  interest  is  ex- 
pressed by  all  winning  and  attractive  methods,  nothing 
has  ever  yet  been  found  so  successful  in  securing  obe- 
dience to  the  rules  of  right  and  wrong. 

The  power  of  this  principle  is  greatly  enhanced  when 
the  superior  mind  is  a  benefactor.  The  bestowal  of 
kindness  excites  a  desire  to  make  some  returns  of  good, 
and  when  it  is  seen  that  such  a  benefactor  is  gratified 
by  leading  a  dependent  mind  to  right  action,  it  proves 
a  most  powerful  motive  to  obedience. 

StiU  more  is  the  power  of  this  principle  increased 
when  the  favors  bestowed  are  purchased  by  self-denial 
and  suffering  on  the  part  of  the  benefactor.  The  more 
noble  the  benefactor,  and  the  greater  the  good  thus  pur- 
chased or  the  evils  thus  averted,  the  stronger  is  the  prin- 
ciple of  gratitude  leading  to  such  returns  of  obedience. 

Again,  experience  has  shown  that  the  advance  of  the 
race  has  been  by  the  agency  of  teachers  and  confessors 
who  secured  light  and  elevation  to  their  fellows  at  the 
expense  of  labor,  toil,  and  self-denial  of  the  severest  kind. 

These  are  the  leading  points  in  the  results  of  human 
experience  as  to  the  nature  of  mind  and  the  laws  of 
the  system  of  which  it  is  a  part. 


42  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER  V. 

KNOWLEDGE    GAINED    BY    REASON    AND    EXPERIENCE 
AS    TO    A   FUTURE   STATE. 

We  have  shown  that,  independently  of  a  revelation, 
we  have  no  sources  of  knowledge  except  the  intuitions 
reasoning  and  experience.  Hereafter  we  will,  as  is  oft- 
en done,  include  the  two  first  in  the  teim  reason. 

We  have  seen  what  knowledge  has  been  furnished 
by  human  experience  as  to  the  nature  of  mind  and 
the  laws  of  the  present  system  in  w^hich  it  is  placed. 
We  will  now  inquire  as  to  the  teachings  of  reason  and 
experience  in  regard  to  the  future. 

As  to  the  question  of  the  existence  of  the  soul  after 
the  dissolution  of  the  body,  we  have  only  one  of  the 
intuitive  truths  for  our  guide,  viz.,  "things  will  con- 
tinue as  tliey  are  and  have  been  till  there  is  evidence 
of  a  cause  for  change,"  or,  in  other  words,  things  wnll 
continue  according  to  past  experience  till  there  is  some 
evidence  to  the  contrary. 

It  has  been  the  uniform  experience  of  mankind  that 
the  human  mind  passes  through  various  states  of  ex- 
istence extremely  different  in  nature  and  continuance. 
The  first  state  is  that  in  which  the  mind  seems  to  have 
no  susceptibilities  but  of  sensation,  and  to  be  utterly 
destitute  of  all  the  properties  of  a  rational  intellect.  By 
a  slow  and  gradual  process,  new  and  successive  powers 
seem  to  be  called  into  existence,  and  what  seemed 
among  the  lowest  grades  of  animal  existence  becomes 


KNOWLEDGE  AS   TO   A   FUTURE    STATE.  43 

the  glory  and  lord  of  this  lower  world.  Yet,  in  the 
full  exercise  of  all  the  faculties  of  a  rational  and  moral 
nature,  there  is  a  perpetual  recurrence  of  periods  in 
which  all  evidences  of  the  existence  of  such  faculties 
cease.  In  a  profound  sleep,  or  in  a  deep  swoon,  no 
proof  of  rational  existence  remains  either  to  the  being 
thus  affected  or  to  the  observers  of  this  phenomenon. 
As  the  extreme  of  old  age  approaches,  the  glories  of 
the  mind  begin  to  fade  away,  until  man  sometimes 
passes  into  a  state  of  second  childhood.  There  are 
times,  also,  when  changes  in  the  material  system  de- 
range all  the  power  of  intellect,  and  sometimes  reduce 
what  was  once  a  rational  mind  to  a  state  of  entire  fa- 
tuity, and  then,  again,  the  mental  powers  are  restored. 

The  experience  of  mankind,  then,  on  this  subject  is 
this :  that  the  mind  is  an  existence  which  passes 
through  multiplied  and  very  great  changes  without 
being  destroyed.  The  soul  continues  to  exist  after 
changes  as  great  as  death,  and  in  many  respects  simi- 
lar to  it,  such,  for  example,  as  the  event  of  birth,  and 
of  sleep,  and  we  have  never  known  a  mind  destroyed 
by  such  changes.  The  argument,  then,  is,  that  as 
things  will  be  in  agreement  with  past  experience,  the 
soul  will  continue  to  go  through  other  changes  without 
being  destroyed,  unless  there  is  some  reason  to  the 
contrary. 

There  can  be  no  reason  found  to  the  contrary,  for 
there  is  no  evidence  that  the  event  called  death  is  any 
thing  more  than  a  separation  of  the  spirit  from  its  ma- 
terial envelope,  nor  is  there  any  evidence  against  the 
supposition  that  it  may  be  an  event  which  introduces 
the  mind  into  a  more  perfect  state  of  existence. 


44  THE   BIBLE  AND  THE   BEOPLE. 

It  appears  that  losing  various  parts  of  the  body 
does  not  at  all  affect  the  operations  of  mind ;  that  by 
the  perpetual  changes  that  are  taking  place  in  the 
body,  every  particle  of  it,  after  a  course  of  years,  is 
dissevered  from  its  connection  with  the  spirit,  and  is 
supplied  by  other  matter.  The  soul  is  thus  proved  to 
be  so  connected  with  a  material  body  that  it  may  lose 
the  whole  of  it  by  a  slow  process  without  being  the 
least  injured,  and  therefore  we  have  the  evidence  of 
experience  that  it  may  be  sejmrated  from  the  body 
without  any  detriment  to  its  powers  and  faculties. 

Analogy  also  leads  to  the  supposition  that  death  is 
only  a  change  which  introduces  the  intellectual  being 
into  a  more  perfect  mode  of  existence ;  for,  in  past  ex- 
perience, those  changes  most  resembling  death,  which 
are  not  accidental,  but  according  to  the  ordinary  course 
of  nature,  are  means  of  renewing  and  invigorating 
mental  powers.  Thus  sleep,  the  emblem  of  death,  is 
succeeded  by  renewed  powers  of  activity  and  conscious- 
ness. 

The  changes  of  other  animals  which  most  resemble 
death  furnish  another  analogy.  The  humble  worm 
rolls  itself  up  in  its  temporary  tomb,  and,  after  a  short 
slumber,  bursts  forth  to  new  life,  clothed  in  more  brill- 
iant dyes,  endued  with  more  active  capacities,  and  pre- 
pared to  secure  enjoyments  before  unknown.  Eea- 
soning  from  past  experience,  then,  we  should  infer  the 
continued  existence  of  the  mind  after  death. 

By  the  same  method  we  arrive  at  the  doctrine  of  the 
immortality  of  the  soul.  We  know  that  the  soul  does 
now  exist.  We  know  of  no  cause  that  will  destroy  it. 
Therefore  we  infer  that  it  yf'^  forever  continue  to  exist. 


KNOWLEDGE  AS  TO  A  FUTURE  STATE.  45 

Whether  this  argument  is  satisfactory  or  not,  with- 
out a  revelation  this  is  all  the  evidence  we  have  of  the 
soul's  continued  existence  after  death,  and  of  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul. 

It  is  the  same  intuitive  truth  which  (without  a  rev- 
elation) alone  furnishes  aid  in  regard  to  the  fiiture  des- 
tiny of  man. 

We  assume  that  things  are  to  he  in  agreement  with 
past  experience  unless  there  is  evidence  to  the  contra- 
ry. No  such  evidence  can  be  found.  What,  then, 
does  the  past  history  of  our  race  teach  us  to  expect 
from  the  future?  These  are  the  most  important  de- 
ductions : 

We  are  to  continue  under  the  same  laws  of  the  sys- 
tem already  established.  We  are  to  have  the  same 
susceptibilities  to  pleasure  and  pain,  the  same  intellect 
to  guide  us,  the  same  power  of  volition  to  decide  our 
own  courses. 

We  are  to  be  parts  of  a  social  system  in  which  ev- 
ery member  suffers  not  only  for  his  own  violations  of 
law,  but  for  the  sins  of  others. 

The  great  law  of  this  system  is  to  be  forever  sus- 
tained— the  laio  of  sacrifice.  Every  being  is  to  sac- 
rifice the  lesser  for  the  greater  good  in  all  his  individ- 
ual concerns,  and,  in  regard  to  the  commonwealth,  the 
lesser  good  of  the  individual  is  to  be  sacrificed  to  the 
greater  good  of  the  many.  In  all  this,  also,  reference 
is  to  be  had  to  the  interests  of  the  future  as  much  as 
to  those  of  the  present,  and  all  violations  of  this  great 
law  are  to  involve  the  estabhshed  penalties. 

This  system  of  law  is  to  be  administered  as  it  has 
been  in  the  past.    No  pity  for  ignorance,  no  sympathy 


46  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

for  the  suffering,  will  ever  suspend  the  natural  penal- 
ties for  wrong-doing.  Obedience,  exact,  constant,  and 
persevering,  is  to  be  the  only  mode  of  securing  the  re- 
wards and  escaping  the  penalties  of  this  system. 

Again,  mankind,  as  a  race,  are  to  continue  to  pro- 
gress, until  at  some  period  a  certain  portion  will  arrive 
at  the  entire  and  perfect  obedience  to  law  wliich,  at  the 
present  stage  of  being,  no  one  has  ever  yet  attained. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  this  progress  will  be  attend- 
ed "vvith  the  hopeless  and  perpetual  ruin  of  multitudes 
who,  as  individuals,  take  a  retrograde  course,  and  grow 
more  and  more  guilty  and  miserable,  while  continued 
existence  will  serve  only  to  render  obedience  to  law 
more  improbable. 

But  from  this  loss  to  individuals  will  result  protect- 
ive and  purifying  influences  to  the  commonwealth,  so 
that  thus  good  will  constantly  be  educed  from  evil. 

Again,  the  influences  that  are  to  secure  the  advance 
of  the  race  to  perfect  obedience  are  to  be,  knowledge 
of  laws,  fear  of  penalties,  hope  of  rewards,  and  love  and 
gratitude  toward  those  who  may  prove  teachers,  bene- 
factors, and  self-sacrificing  friends.  These  have  been 
the  modes  in  past  experience  in  this  world,  and  there- 
fore we  infer  them  for  the  future. 


KNOWLEDGE   OF  THE   CREATOE.  47 


CHAPTER  VI. 

KNOWLEDGE  GAINED  BY  REASON  AND  EXPERIENCE 
ALONE  CONCERNING  THE  EXISTENCE,  CHARACTER, 
AND   DESIGNS   OF   THE    CREATOR. 

We  have  shown  that,  in  regard  to  our  Creator,  his 
character  and  designs,  without  a  revelation,  we  have 
nothing  to  guide  us  but  the  intuitive  truths,  and  the 
deductions  obtained  by  their  aid  from  human  experi- 
ence. 

We  will  now  inquire  as  to  the  amount  of  knowl- 
edge to  be  secured  from  these  sources. 

By  the  aid  of  the  first  intuitive  truth,  we  arrive  at 
the  knowledge  of  some  great  First  Cause  or  causes, 
existing  without  beginning,  who  created  the  universe 
of  matter  and  mind ;  yet,  as  has  been  shown,  we  are 
not,  by  this  first  principle,  enabled  to  infer  any  thing 
as  to  the  unity  or  plurality  of  such  cause  or  causes. 
For  aught  that  this  intuitive  truth  indicates,  there  may 
have  been  a  plurality  of  eternal  and  self-existent  minds, 
who  acted  in  unity  at  the  creation  of  all  things.  Nei- 
ther can  we,  by  the  aid  of  this  truth,  arrive  at  any  con- 
clusion as  to  the  character  and  designs  of  the  author 
or  authors  of  all  created  things. 

It  is  by  the  aid  of  the  fourth  intuitive  truth  that  we 
deduce  whatever  can  be  known  of  the  character  and 
designs  of  the  Creator. 


48  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

This  truth  teaches  us  that  "  design  is  evidence  of 
an  intelligent  cause,  and  that  the  nature  of  a  design 
proves  the  intention  and  character  of  the  author." 

The  works  of  Nature,  both  of  mind  and  matter,  are 
full  of  evidence  of  design,  and  from  this  we  infer  that 
the  Creator  is  an  intelligent  cause. 

The  infinite  variety  and  extent  of  creation  are  evi- 
dences of  the  wonderful  ^ower  of  their  Author.  The 
fact  that  all  the  contrivances  of  matter  and  mind  are 
clearly  designed  to  produce  enjoyment,  while  pain  is 
merely  the  result  of  a  violation  of  laws  which,  if  obeyed, 
would  secure  only  happiness — this  is  evidence  of  the 
benevolence  of  the  Creator. 

The  skill  with  which  all  things  are  formed  and  com- 
bined to  secure  the  ends  designed  are  proofs  of  the 
wisdom  of  the  Creator. 

Thus,  by  aid  of  the  fourth  intuitive  truth,  and  the 
world  of  mind  and  matter  around  us,  we  obtain  the 
result  that  the  Author  of  Nature  is  powerful,  henevch 
lent^  and  wise. 

But  in  regard  to  the  use  of  the  word  power^  as 
applied  to  the  Creator,  one  distinction  is  important. 
There  are  things  which  are  contradictory  and  impos- 
sible in  the  nature  of  things,  so  that  no  one  can  con- 
ceive of  them  as  possible.  Thus,  to  create  and  not  to 
create  at  the  same  time,  or  to  make  a  mind  that  is  a 
free  agent  and  at  the  same  time  not  a  free  agent,  but 
controlled  in  volitions  by  fixed  causation  as  matter  is — 
these  and  many  other  things  are  contradictions  or  im- 
possibilities. 

Now  when  we  say  that  the  Creator  can  not  do  these 
things,  we  do  not  limit  his  power,  for  almighty  power 


KNOWLEDGE   OF   THE   CEEATOR.  49 

signifies  simplj  and  only  a  power  to  do  all  things  that 
are  not  contradictions  and  thus  absurdities. 

This  being  premised,  we  are  obliged  to  infer  from 
the  history  of  our  race  that  the  Creator,  in  regard  to 
the  existence  of  evil,  is  limited  either  in  power,  or  in 
benevolence,  or  in  the  nature  of  things. 

We  arrive  at  this  conclusion  thus :  "VYe  see  that 
evils  and  suffering,  multitudinous  and  terrific,  do  exist, 
and  have  existed  in  all  ages.  In  reference  to  this, 
only  these  suppositions  are  conceivable :  the  first  is, 
that  the  Creator  is  perfectly  benevolent,  and  that  a 
better  system,  with  all  the  existing  good  and  none  of 
the  evil,  is  conceivable  and  possible  in  the  nature  of 
things,  yet  that  he  had  not  the  jpoioer  to  produce  and 
sustain  it. 

The  second  supposition  is,  that  the  Creator  has  the 
power  to  produce  and  sustain  a  wiser  and  better  sys- 
tem, in  which  there  shall  be  all  the  good  and  none  of 
the  evil  in  the  existing  one,  and  yet  that  he  would  not 
do  it.  This  either  involves  the  supposition  of  a  pure- 
ly malignant  being,  who  enjoys  witnessing  needless  and 
awful  suffering,  and  prefers  it  to  happiness,  or  of  one 
who  is,  like  human  beings,  of  a  mixed  character,  and 
allows  evil  to  exist  when  self-denying  efforts  might 
prevent  it. 

All  the  minds  of  whom  we  have  had  any  knowledge, 
although,  where  their  own  ease  and  pleasure  are  not  to 
be  sacrificed,  they  prefer  to  make  others  around  them 
happy,  yet  ever  exhibit  a  selfish  spirit.  They  all  show 
that  they  think  and  plan  more  for  their  own  private  en- 
joyment than  for  the  general  happiness,  and  thus,  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  are  selfish.    Reasoning  from  ex- 

C 


50  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

perience,  then,  we  should  infer  that  the  Creator  might 
be  of  the  same  character. 

The  third  supposition  is,  that  the  Creator  has  insti- 
tuted the  best  system  possible  in  the  nature  of  things^ 
so  that  there  is  and  will  be  the  MOST  possible  GOOD 

WITH  THE  LEAST  POSSIBLE  EVIL. 

We  come,  then,  to  the  inquiry  as  to  the  end  or  de- 
sign of  the  Creator  in  forming  the  universe  of  mind  and 
matter. 

To  answer  this,  we  must  again  refer  to  the  fourth 
intuitive  truth,  viz.,  "  the  nature  of  a  contrivance  is 
proof  of  the  intention  or  design  of  the  author." 

This  position  is  iUustrated  in  many  cases  in  com- 
mon life.  If  we  find  a  contrivance  which  moves  the 
air  toward  a  fire  and  thus  increases  the  flame,  we  infer 
that  the  author  intended  to  produce  this  result.  If  we 
find  a  contrivance  to  show  the  time  of  day,  such  as  a 
sun-dial  or  clock,  we  can  not  help  believing  that  the 
author  intended  to  secure  this  end. 

Moreover,  when  we  find  a  curious  machine,  where 
every  part  is  arranged  on  a  given  design,  we  naturally 
inquire  hoio  it  must  be  worked  to  produce  the  intend- 
ed result.  It  may  have  wheels  that,  if  turned  one  way, 
produce  the  end  designed,  but,  if  turned  another  way, 
produce  exactly  the  opposite  efiect. 

For  example,  if  the  wheels  of  a  mill  are  arranged 
aright,  or  as  the  author  designed,  they  will  grind  flour 
or  weave  cotton ;  but  if  arranged  and  worked  contrary 
to  the  design  of  the  author,  they  will  break  themselves 
to  pieces  and  destroy  all  things  around  them. 

Two  inquiries,  then,  are  to  be  made  in  reference  to 
the  design  of  the  Creator.    The  first  is.  What  was  the 


KNOWLEDGE   OF   THE   CKEATOE.  51 

end  or  design  for  whicli  he  made  all  things  ?  and  the 
second  is,  What  is  the  right  and  true  method  by  which 
this  d-esign  can  "be  secured  ? 

We  shall  assume,  and  attempt  to  prove  in  what  fol- 
lows, that  the  design  and  ultimate  end  of  the  Creator 
in  all  his  works  is  toj^roduce  the  greatest  possible  hap- 
piness with  the  least  possible  evil. 

Afterward  will  be  exhibited  the  true  and  right  meth- 
od for  securing  this  end,  so  far  as  we  can  learn  it  by 
reason  and  experience  without  a  revelation. 

In  pursuing  this  plan,  the  first  step  will  be  to  ex- 
hibit the  constitution  and  laws  of  mind,  as  the  chief 
and  most  wonderful  exhibition  of  the  grand  design  of 
its  Author. 


52  THE   BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER  VIL 

DIVERSITIES   IN   SYSTEMS   OF  MENTAL  PHILOSOPHY. 

We  are  now  to  commence  an  examination  of  the  va- 
rious powers  and  operations  of  the  human  mind,  for 
the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  grand  aim  of  the  Author 
in  the  creation  of  all  things. 

In  pursuing  this  course,  it  is  needful,  first,  to  refer 
to  the  apparent  diversities  in  systems  of  mental  phi- 
losophy, for  the  purpose  of  justifying  the  classification 
and  the  terms  to  be  employed  hereafter. 

There  is  nothing  more  hackneyed  than  the  com- 
plaints against  metaphysics  as  abstruse,  difficult  of 
comprehension,  and  unpractical,  while  the  various  writ- 
ers on  this  science  seem  more  or  less  divided  into  op- 
posing schools.  Notwithstanding  this,  there  are  rea- 
sons for  maintaining  a  real  agreement  in  all  systems 
of  mental  philosophy,  at  least  in  essentials,  and  the  fol- 
lowing considerations  lead  to  such  a  conclusion : 

In  the  first  place,  the  nature  of  the  subject  investi- 
gated would  necessarily  tend  to  such  a  result ;  for  that 
subject  is  the  human  mind,  not  in  its  specific  peculi- 
arities, but  in  those  generic  phenomena  which  are  com- 
mon to  all  minds ;  just  as  tlie  natural  philosopher  in- 
vestigates those  properties  of  matter  w^hich  are  com- 
mon to  a  class,  and  not  the  specific  peculiarities  that 
distinguish  individual  masses  or  particles.  Now,  as 
those  who  direct  their  investigations  to  mental  phenom- 


DIVERSITIES   IN    MENTAL    PHILOSOPHY.  53 

ena  are  all  drawing  a  picture  from  the  same  pattern,  it 
is  properly  inferred  that  in  the  main  outlines  there 
must  be  a  general  resemblance. 

Another  reason  for  this  conclusion  is  the  mode  of  in- 
vestigation pursued.  It  is  simply  observing,  first,  the 
phenomena  of  our  own  minds,  and  then  comparing 
them  with  those  of  other  minds  as  exhibited  in  looks, 
words,  and  actions,  and  thus  educing  generic  resem- 
blances and  specific  difierences.  It  is  the  generic  re- 
semblances only  that  constitute  the  faculties  and  laws 
of  mind  which  are  to  be  described,  classified,  and 
named. 

Another  reason  for  inferring  such  an  agreement  of 
systems  is  the  fact,  not  only  that  all  human  minds  have 
common  phenomena,  but  that  they  have  provided  them- 
selves with  terms  to  express  them,  so  that  they  succeed 
in  so  far  understanding  each  other  as  to  make  compar- 
isons of  their  mental  experience. 

The  same  agreement  may  be  infeiTed,  also,  when  we 
consider  that  mental  philosophy  treats,  not  of  new 
ideas,  or  new  combinations  of  ideas,  but  of  knowledge 
which  is  already  in  the  mind.  The  process  to  be  pur- 
sued, then,  involves  a  reference  to  what  we  have  our- 
selves experienced ;  it  is  an  examination  of  our  own 
feelings,  thoughts,  and  volitions.  These  are  subjects 
of  which  we  are  competent  judges,  and  in  regard  to 
which  we  can  be  certain  as  to  what  is  correct  or  in- 
correct, more  than  we  can  be  in  reference  to  any  other 
kind  of  knowledge. 

From  these  considerations,  it  is  inferred  that  aU  sys- 
tems of  mental  philosophy  will  resemble  each  other 
just  so  far  as  they  are  true,  and  that  the  difference 


54  THE   BIBLE   AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

must  be  mainly  in  modes  of  presenting  the  subject. 
Inasmuch  as  writers  on  mental  science  are  drawing  a 
picture  of  those  experiences  of  their  own  minds  which 
are  common  to  the  whole  race,  they  must  in  the  main 
resemble  each  other,  though  some  may  be  more  imper- 
fect, vague,  and  disconnected  than  others. 

It  may  be  useful  to  indicate  the  causes  which  have 
combined  to  produce  perplexity  and  apparent  diversi- 
ties among  writers  on  mental  science. 

The  first  cause  is  the  want  of  an  accurate  medium 
of  communication  by  which  one  mind  can  compare  its 
experience  with  the  experience  of  other  minds.  In 
natural  science,  when  the  philosopher  instructs  in  ref- 
erence to  the  properties  of  matter,  all  the  terms  em- 
ployed can  be  made  definite  by  appeals  to  the  senses. 
For  example,  if  it  is  not  understood  what  is  meant  by 
a  ^pungent  smell,  such  a  smell  can  be  produced,  and 
then  there  is  a  perfectly  clear  idea  of  what  is  meant  by 
the  term.  But  in  mental  science,  when  the  term  reco- 
son  or  the  term  understanding  is  employed,  no  such 
perfect  and  definite  mode  is  at  command  to  illustrate 
the  meaning. 

On  the  contrary,  in  this  science,  a  single  term  is 
often  used  with  various  meanings,  each  use,  however, 
including  some  common  idea,  while  the  ^extent  or  lim- 
itation in  every  case  is  to  be  determined  by  the  con- 
nection. For  example,  the  term  heart  is  used  some- 
times to  signify  the  chief  organ  of  physical  life,  some- 
times it  signifies  the  mind  itself.  In  a  more  limited 
use  it  denotes  the  feelings,  and  in  a  still  more  restrict- 
ed sense  it  expresses  the  leading  interest  of  the  mind. 


DH^RSITIES    IN   3iIEXTAL   PHILOSOPHY.  55 

This  involves  a  constant  process  of  reasoning  to  decide 
the  meaning  of  the  term. 

Another  perplexity  in  mental  science  has  arisen  from 
an  unwarrantable  use  of  tenns  by  writers.  In  some 
instances  new  distinctions  in  mental  analysis  have  been 
originated,  and  then  terms  have  been  used  to  express 
these  distinctions  which  never  before  were  employed  in 
this  limited  sense.  Of  course,  in  reading  their  works, 
the  mind  is  confused  by  meeting  terms  that  in  common 
use  recall  one  signification,  when  the  writer  employs 
them  in  another. 

In  other  cases,  such  writers  have  formed  new  classi- 
fications of  mental  phenomena,  and  employed  new  terms 
to  express  them,  and  thus  an  impression  is  made  that 
something  new  has  been  discovered,  or  a  new  system 
evolved.  For  example.  Brown  arranges  the  intellectual 
operations  of  mind  in  but  two  general  classes,  and  calls 
them  simj)le  suggestion  and  relative  suggestion.  But 
his  work,  in  this  respect,  presents  only  a  new  classifi- 
cation and  new  terms,  but  no  new  ideas. 

Another  difficulty  in  mental  science  has  arisen  from 
the  fact  that  many  writers  on  this  subject  have  failed 
in  accurate  analysis  of  the  phenomena  of  mind,  and,  of 
course,  have  not  succeeded  in  conveying  clear  and  dis- 
tinct ideas  to  their  readers.  For  example,  some  meta- 
physicians have  never  discriminated  between  desire  and 
choice^  but  have  written  as  if  they  were  the  same  thing. 
Thus  they  have  affirmed  things  which  were  true  in  ref- 
erence to  one  of  these  mental  acts,  and  false  in  regard 
to  the  other.  This  has  produced  mistiness  of  appre- 
hension or  false  conceptions  in  their  readers.  Some  un- 
derstand the  writer  one  way  and  dispute  his  positions, 


56  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

others  understand  liim  another  way  and  defend  them, 
because  what  he  says  is  true  of  one  act  and  false  of 
the  other,  while  hoth  acts  are  spoken  of  as  one  and 
the  same. 

Meantime  the  great  mass  of  readers  have  never  been 
accustomed  to  any  accurate  analysis,  or  even  to  any 
fixed  observation  of  their  own  mental  states.  They 
are,  therefore,  unprepared  to  detect  these  defects  in  the 
writers  on  mental  science,  and  are  easily  confused  and 
perplexed. 

Another  difficulty  has  arisen  from  false  ideas  as  to 
the  origin  and  proper  use  of  words.  In  most  minds 
an  impression  has  been  generated  that  there  is  an  in- 
herent meaning  belonging  to  the  words  of  a  language. 
They  do  not  consider  that  in  the  formation  of  language 
the  ideas  come  first,  and  that  the  words  are  only  con- 
ventional signs  which  men  agree  in  using  to  express 
these  ideas.  Writers  often  speak  of  words  which  by 
long  usage  have  been  connected  with  certain  ideas,  as 
if  they  ought  not  to  be  so  employed.  They  do  not 
consider  that  the  fact  that  men  have  used  a  word  for  a 
given  idea,  and  understand  each  other,  is  the  very  thing 
which  establishes  its  proper  use  and  meaning. 

If,  then,  in  all  time  and  in  all  nations,  mankind  have 
classified  and  given  names  to  their  mental  states,  the 
classification  and  the  names  are  true  and  proper,  and 
no  philosopher  should  claim  that  these  are  incorrect. 
The  object  of  language  is  to  enable  men  to  communi- 
cate their  ideas,  and  that  language  is  best  which  en- 
ables them  to  do  it  the  most  extensively  and  the  most 
accurately. 

It  is  maintained,  then,  that  there  is  a  system  of  men- 


DIVERSITIES   IN   MENTAL   PHILOSOPHY.  57 

tal  philosophy  which  is  understood  by  all  mankind ; 
that  there  are  words  in  common  use  by  which  it  can 
be  clearly  and  definitely  described  and  expressed,  ei- 
ther by  single  terms  or  by  circumlocution ;  that  it  is 
recognized  in  the  Bible ;  and  that,  substantially,  it  is 
the  system  taught  by  all  writers  on  mental  science, 
some  teaching  one  portion  and  some  another.  It  is 
maintained,  also,  that  no  such  writer  has  taught  any 
thing  of  any  importance  that  is  true  which  can  not  be 
translated  into  the  language  of  common  life,  so  as  to 
be  readily  comprehended  even  by  persons  of  ordinary 
capacity  and  education. 

There  is  no  difficulty  in  leading  any  mind  of  ordi- 
nary capacity  to  notice  the  several  classes  of  mental 
operations  introduced  in  this  work,  and  in  all  nations 
and  languages  these  facts  are  recognized  and  terms  are 
provided  to  express  them. 

Some  persons  object  to  speaking  of  any  mental  phe- 
nomena as  states  of  mind,  because  it  is  claimed  that 
the  mind  is  active  in  all.  Thus  sensations  are  claimed 
to  be  acts  of  mind  instead  of  passive  states  caused  by 
material  objects.  In  regard  to  this  and  various  other 
objections  urged  against  this  mode  of  classification  and 
nomenclature,  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  thing  aimed 
at  is  simply,  by  means  of  a  description,  to  point  out 
what  is  meant.  A^Tien  this  is  understood,  it  does  not 
change  our  idea  to  give  it  a  name.  We  know  by  our 
own  experience  what  it  is  to  have  a  sensation,  and 
calling  it  a  state  or  an  act  does  not  alter  our  idea  of 
the  fact. 

In  using  words,  aU  we  have  to  do  is  to  convey  our 
meaning^  either  by  description  or  illustration,  and 
C2 


68  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

when  we  have  done  this,  to  select  a  word  to  express  it ; 
and  that  word  is  best  for  this  purpose  which  would 
recall  this  meaning  to  the  greatest  number  of  persons 
who  have  previously  used  it  in  this  sense. 

For  this  reason,  it  is  most  proper  to  use  terms  em- 
ployed in  common  life  to  express  the  phenomena  treat- 
ed of  in  mental  science,  instead  of  instituting:  new 
terms,  which,  to  most  persons,  have  never  had  the  in- 
tended ideas  connected  with  them. 

This  method  is  adopted  in  the  following  pages ; 
but  it  is  important  to  remember  that,  while  these 
words  are  used  both  in  common  life  and  by  metaphys- 
ical writers  with  the  meaning  here  indicated,  they  are 
often  used  with  other  significations.  Thus  the  word 
to  ^perceive  is  used  not  only  to  signify  the  act  of  gain- 
ing ideas  by  the  senses,  but  any  act  of  mind  in  no- 
ticing truths  of  any  kind,  either  mental  or  external. 
So  to  conceive  and  to  perceive  are  often  used  inter- 
changeably as  meaning  the  same  thing. 

But  this  does  not  render  it  necessary  to  seek  any 
new  terms  to  express  these  ideas.  All  that  is  need- 
ful is  to  indicate  that  in  classing  and  describing  men- 
tal phenomena  we  restrict  ourselves  to  one  exact  and 
uniform  use  of  these  terms,  and  this  use  is  indicated 
in  the  description  or  definition  given. 


DESCEIPTION    OF   THE    IMEXTAL   POWEES.  59 


CHAPTER  YIIL 

CLASSIFICATION    AND    DESCRIPTION     OF    THE    MENTAL 
POWERS. 

We  now  proceed  to  the  classification  and  descrip- 
tion of  the  mental  powers. 

Not  only  all  writers  on  mental  science,  but  the  most 
common  writers  and  speakers,  recognize  a  general  di- 
vision of  mental  operations,  which  is  expressed  by  the 
terms  intellect^  feeling^  and  choice.  We  think^  we 
feel^  and  we  choose.  Even  the  young  child  learns  to 
comprehend  these  three  grand  divisions  of  the  mental 
phenomena. 

To  this  most  general  division,  in  this  work,  are  ap- 
plied the  terms  the  intellectual  jpowers^  the  suscejptibil- 
ities,  and  the  vnll.  These  terms  are  selected  because 
they  are  the  most  common  ones. 

the  intellectual  powers. 

Under  the  general  class  of  intellectual  powers  are 
an*anged  the  following  specific  powers  of  mind : 

Sensation,  Perception,  Conception,  Memory,  Imag- 
ination, Judgment,  Abstraction,  Attention,  and  Associ- 
ation. 

Sensation  is  a  state  of  mind  produced  by  material 
objects  acting  on  the  senses. 

Thus,  when  light,  which  is  considered  as  one  kind 
of  matter,  affects  the  eye,  the  sensation  of  sight  is  pro- 


60  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

duced.  When  the  perfume  of  a  rose,  which  is  another 
species  of  matter,  affects  the  nostrils,  the  sensation  of 
smell  is  produced.  When  a  bell  or  some  musical  in- 
strument causes  the  air  to  vibrate  on  the  drum  of  the 
ear,  it  causes  the  sensation  of  sound.  When  any  sap- 
id body  is  applied  to  the  tongue,  the  sensation  of  taste 
is  caused.  When  the  hand,  or  any  part  of  the  body, 
comes  in  contact  with  another  body,  the  sensation  of 
touch  is  produced. 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  five  senses  are  the  organs  of 
sensation,  and  that  through  their  instrumentality  ma- 
terial things  operate  upon  the  mind. 

Perception  is  a  sensation  attended  by  the  helief  of 
a  cause,  and  it  is  this  additional  circumstance  alone 
which  distinguishes  perception  from  sensation. 

If  a  person  were  asleep,  and  should  suffer  from  the 
prick  of  a  pin,  or  be  disturbed  by  an  unpleasant  sound, 
these  would  be  mere  sensations,  because  the  mind  would 
not  ascribe  them  to  any  cause.  But  if  the  person  should 
waken,  these  sensations  would  immediately  become 
perceptions,  because  they  would  be  attended  by  the 
belief  of  some  cause. 

Conceiytion  is  a  state  of  mind  similar  to  perception, 
and  differs  from  it  in  being  less  vivid,  and  in  not  being 
produced  through  the  medium  of  the  senses. 

When  we  look  at  a  tree,  we  have  ^jperception  of  this 
object.  But  the  mind  can  also  have  an  idea  of  this 
tree  when  removed  from  the  sight,  though  the  idea  is 
not  so  vivid  and  distinct,  nor  have  the  senses  any  agen- 
cy in  producing  it.  The  perfume  of  a  rose,  also,  occa- 
sions another  sensation ;  but  when  the  rose  is  removed, 
so  as  not  to  affect  the  senses,  we  can  still  have  a  con- 


DESCRIPTION    OF   THE   SIENTAL   POWERS.  61 

cejptton  of  its  perfume.  The  conception  differs  from 
the  perception  only  in  being  less  vivid,  and  in  not  be- 
ing caused  by  a  material  object  acting  on  the  senses. 

Memory  is  either  a  conception  or  a  perception,  which 
is  attended  with  a  feeling  of  its  resemblance  to  a  past 
state  of  mind.  It  is  this  feeling  of  resemblance  that 
is  the  only  circumstance  which  distinguishes  memory 
fi:om  conception. 

Thus  we  may  conceive  of  a  tree  without  recognizing 
it  as  the  particular  idea  of  any  tree  we  may  have  seen 
before ;  but  if  this  is  accompanied  by  a  feeling  of  the 
resemblance  of  this  idea  to  the  one  we  always  have 
when  we  see  the  tree  that  shadows  the  paternal  roof, 
this  conception  becomes  memory.  If  we  conceive  the 
form  of  a  man  without  recognizing  the  resemblance  of 
this  idea  to  the  perceptions  we  have  when  we  see  any 
particular  man,  this  is  a  simple  act  of  conception ;  but 
if  we  recognize  in  this  object  of  conception  the  features 
of  a  dear  friend,  this  act  then  becomes  memory.  Again, 
if  we  conceive  of  certain  events  and  circumstances  at- 
tending them  without  recognizing  this  combination  as 
ever  having  existed  in  past  experience,  they  are  mere 
conceptions ;  but  if  we  recognize  in  them  the  events 
and  circumstances  of  past  experience,  conception  be- 
comes  memory. 

Iinagination  is  the  power  which  the  mind  possesses 
of  arranging  our  conceptions  in  new  combinations.  We 
can  conceive  objects  as  united  together  of  which  we 
never  conceived  before  as  thus  united. 

Thus,  when  we  read  the  description  of  some  pictur- 
esque scene  in  nature,  the  mind  immediately  groups 
together  mountains,  trees,  brooks,  cottages,  and  glens. 


62  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE    PEOPLE. 

forming  a  new  combination  of  conceptions  different  from 
any  scene  we  ever  witnessed  or  conceived  before.  All 
the  objects  thus  combined  are  conceptions  ;  the  act  of 
arranging  them  is  an  act  of  the  imagination. 

Judgment  is  the  power  which  the  mind  possesses 
of  noticing  relations.  A  relation  is  an  idea  obtained 
by  observing  one  thing  in  connection  w4th  another. 
Thus,  when  we  perceive  one  thing  to  be  longer  than 
another,  one  thing  to  be  on  another,  or  one  thing  to 
belong  to  another — in  all  these  cases  the  mind  notices 
relations^  or  exercises  the  faculty  of  judgment.  Thus, 
also,  when  we  compare  any  action  with  the  rule  of 
duty  in  order  to  decide  whether  it  is  right  or  v.a'ong, 
we  exercise  the  same  faculty.  This  act  always  is  nec- 
essarily preceded  by  the  comparison  of  one  thing  with 
another,  in  order  to  notice  the  relations. 

Abstraction  is  the  power  of  noticing  certain  parts  or 
quahties  of  any  object,  as  distinct  from  other  parts  or 
qualities.  Thus,  when  we  notice  the  length  of  a  bridge 
without  attending  to  the  breadth  or  color,  or  when  we 
notice  the  height  of  a  man  without  thinking  of  his 
character,  we  exercise  the  faculty  of  abstraction. 

Attention  is  the  direction  of  the  mind  to  any  par- 
ticular object  or  quality,  from  the  interest  which  is  felt 
in  it,  or  in  something  connected  with  it.  Tlie  degree 
of  attention  is  always  proportioned  to  the  degree  of  in- 
terest felt  in  the  object. 

Association  is  the  power  possessed  by  the  mind  of 
recalling  ideas  in  the  connections  and  relations  in  which 
they  have  existed  in  past  experience.  For  example, 
when  any  two  objects,  such  as  a  house  and  a  tree,  have 
often  been  observed  together,  the  idea  of  one  will  or- 


DESCRIPTION   OF   THE   MENTAL   POWERS.  63 

dinarily  be  attended  by  that  of  the  other.  If  two 
events  have  often  been  united  together  in  regard  to  the 
time  of  their  occurrence,  such,  for  example,  as  thunder 
and  lightning,  the  idea  of  one  will  usually  be  attended 
by  the  other. 

In  this  work,  the  aim  is  to  introduce  no  more  of 
mental  analysis  than  is  needed  for  its  main  object. 
What  is  here  introduced  is  not  claimed  as  a  complete 
presentation  of  all  the  mental  phenomena. 


64  THE   BIBLE  AND   THE   PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SENSATION  AND   PERCEPTION. 

As  there  is  no  distinction  between  sensation  and 
perception  except  in  the  fact  that  one  is  attended  with 
the  belief  of  a  cause  and  the  other  is  not,  they  will  be 
treated  of  together. 

The  mind  of  man  is  an  immaterial  existence,  con- 
fined in  its  operations  by  the  body  it  inhabits,  and  de- 
pending upon  the  construction  and  modifications  of  this 
envelope  for  much  of  its  happiness  or  suffering. 

The  exercise  of  the  imagination,  when  the  eyes  are 
closed  and  the  body  at  rest,  will  probably  give  us  the 
best  idea  of  what  is  the  nature  of  spiritual  existence 
when  disconnected  with  matter.  It  is  one  of  the  of- 
fices of  our  bodily  system  to  retain  the  spirit  in  its 
operations  in  one  particular  place,  so  that  ordinarily  it 
can  have  direct  communion  with  no  other  mind  which 
is  not  in  the  same  place.  Whether  this  is  the  case 
with  mere  spiritual  existence  is  a  question  for  conject- 
nre,  and  not  for  any  rational  decision. 

While  the  spirit  of  man  is  resident  in  its  material 
frame,  it  is  furnished  with  facilities  of  communication 
with  other  minds,  and  with  organs  which  fit  it  to  re- 
ceive suffering  or  enjoyment  from  the  material  objects 
by  which  it  is  surrounded.  These  organs  of  commu- 
nication are  the  several  senses.  They  consist  of  ex- 
pansions of  the  substance  of  which  the  brain  is  formed, 
which,  descending  to  the  body  through  the  spinal  bone 


SENSATION   AND   PERCEPTION.  65 

of  the  back,  are  thence  sent  out  in  thousands  of  ramifi- 
cations over  the  whole  system.  Those  branches  which 
enter  the  eyes,  and  are  spread  over  the  interior  back 
part  of  this  organ,  are  called  the  ojptic  nerve.  When- 
ever the  particles  of  light  enter  the  eye,  they  strike  the 
optic  nerve,  and  produce  the  sensation  whicli  is  call- 
ed sight.  Those  branches  which  are  spread  over  the 
tongue  are  the  organ  of  taste.  Those  that  are  ex- 
tended through  the  cavities  of  the  nostrils  are  called 
the  olfactory  nerves.  When  the  small  particles  of 
matter  that  escape  from  odoriferous  bodies  come  in 
contact  with  these  nerves,  they  produce  the  sensation 
of  smell. 

The  nerves  that  constitute  the  organ  of  hearing  are 
extended  over  the  cavity  of  the  ear  behind  the  tynvpa- 
num^  or  ear-drmn.  This  cavity  is  filled  with  a  liquid, 
and  when  the  drum  of  the  ear  is  caused  to  vibrate  by 
the  air  which  is  set  in  motion  by  sonorous  bodies,  it 
produces  undulations  of  this  liquid  upon  these  nerves, 
and  thus  the  sensation  of  sound  is  produced.  By  the 
expansion  of  other  nerves,  the  sense  oi  feeling  is  ex- 
tended all  over  the  body,  excepting  the  nails  and  the 
hair.  It  is  by  the  action  of  matter,  in  its  different 
forms,  on  these  several  senses,  that  the  mind  obtains 
ideas,  and  that  ideas  are  imparted  from  one  mind  to 
,  another. 

Perception  never  takes  place  unless  some  material 
object  makes  an  impression  upon  one  of  the  senses. 
In  the  case  of  the  eye,  the  ear,  and  the  nostrils,  the  ob- 
ject which  is  regarded  as  the  cause  of  the  sensation 
does  not  come  immediately  in  contact  with  the  organs 
of  sense.     When  we  see  a  body,  we  consider  it  as  the 


66  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE    PEOPLE. 

cause  of  that  perception ;  but  it  is  not  the  body  that 
comes  in  contact  with  the  organ  of  sight,  but  merely 
the  particles  of  light  reflected  from  that  body.  In  the 
case  of  smell,  the  fragrant  body  is  regarded  as  the 
cause  of  the  sensation ;  but  that  which  acts  on  the 
sense  is  the  material  particles  of  perfume  which  flow 
from  that  body. 

Thus,  also,  with  hearing.  We  consider  the  sonor- 
ous body  as  the  cause ;  but  the  sensation  is  produced 
through  the  medium  of  the  air,  which  affects  the  drum 
of  the  ear.  But  in  the  case  of  taste  and  touch,  the 
body  which  is  regarded  by  the  mind  as  the  cause 
must  come  in  contact  with  the  nerves  of  the  tongue  or 
the  body  to  produce  the  sensation. 

SmelL 

The  sense  of  smell  is  one  which  greatly  conduces  to 
the  preservation,  the  comfort,  and  the  happiness  of 
man.  It  is  a  continual  aid  to  him  in  detecting  pol- 
luted atmosphere  or  unhealthy  food.  The  direct  en- 
joyment it  affords  is  probably  less  in  amount  than 
that  derived  from  any  of  the  other  senses ;  yet,  were 
we  deprived  of  all  the  enjoyment  gained  through  this 
source,  we  should  probably  find  the  privation  much 
greater  than  we  at  first  might  imagine.  When  we 
walk  forth  among  the  beauties  of  nature,  the  fresh  per- 
fumes that  send  forth  their  incense  are  sources  both 
of  immediate  and  succeeding  gratification.  The  beau- 
tiful images  of  nature  which  rise  to  the  mind  in  our 
imaginative  hours,  would  lose  many  of  their  obscure 
but  charming  associations  were  the  fields  stripped  of 
the  fragrance  of  their  greens  and  the  flowers  of  their 


SENSATION  AND   PERCEPTION.  ^7 

sweet  perfumes.  If^ature  would  appear  to  have  lost 
that  moving  spirit  of  life  which  now  ever  rides  upon 
the  evening  zephyrs  and  the  summer  breeze.  As  it 
is,  as  we  walk  abroad,  all  nature  seems  to  send  forth 
its  welcome,  while  to  its  Maker's  praise 

"  Each  odorous  leaf, 
Each  opening  blossom,  freely  breathes  abroad 
Its  gratitude,  and  thanks  Him  with  its  sweets." 

Taste, 

When  a  sapid  body  is  applied  to  the  organ  of  taste, 
two  sensations  are  produced,  one  of  touch  and  one  of 
taste.  We  are  conscious  of  the  difference  of  these  sen- 
sations when  we  apply  a  body  to  the  tongue  which  has 
taste,  and  then  immediately  one  which  has  not.  It  is 
probable,  however,  that  the  same  set  of  nerves  serve 
both  purposes. 

It  is  one  of  the  numberless  evidences  of  the  benev- 
olence of  our  Creator  that  the  process  which  is  neces- 
sary for  the  preservation  of  life,  and  which  depends 
upon  the  voluntary  activity  of  every  human  being, 
should  be  connected  with  a  sense  which  affords  such 
gratification  that  the  duty  is  sought  as  a  pleasure. 
Were  mankind  led  to  seek  food  merely  in  the  exercise 
of  reason  for  the  pui-pose  of  preserving  life,  multitudes, 
through  carelessness  and  forgetfulness,  would  be  per- 
■  petually  neglecting  that  regular  supply  without  which 
the  animal  system  would  become  deranged  and  en- 
feebled. By  the  present  constitution  of  the  body,  the 
gratification  of  this  sense  is  an  object  of  desire,  and 
thus  we  are  continually  reminded  of  our  duty,  and  led 
to  it  as  a  source  of  enjoyment. 


68  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

Nor  is  it  the  gratification  of  this  sense  which  is  the 
only  source  of  enjoyment  connected  with  it.  The  reg- 
ular periods  for  repast  bring  around  the  social  board 
those  united  to  each  other  by  the  tenderest  ties  of 
kindred  and  affection.  These  become  seasons  of  cheer- 
ful hilarity  and  relaxation,  seasons  of  cessation  from 
daily  cares,  seasons  for  the  interchange  of  kind  feel- 
ings and  intellectual  stores  ;  and  while  the  mere  grati- 
fication of  sense  is  one  source  of  pleasure,  to  this  is 
often  added  the  "  feast  of  reason  and  the  flow  of  soul." 

The  effect  on  the  best  feelings  in  thus  assembling 
to  participate  in  common  blessings  is  scarcely  ever  ap- 
preciated. Did  every  individual  of  our  race  retire  to 
secrecy  and  solitude  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  nature, 
how  much  would  the  sum  of  human  happiness  be  di- 
minished !  But  thus  has  our  benevolent  Creator  con- 
trived that  one  source  of  enjoyment  should  serve  as 
an  occasion  for  introducing  many  more. 

Hearing. 

The  sense  of  hearing  is  one  more  connected  with 
the  intellectual  and  moral  powers  of  man  than  either 
taste  or  smell,  as  it  is  through  the  medium  of  this  or- 
gan that  both  music  and  speech  operate  on  the  human 
mind.  We  can  form  some  imperfect  estimate  of  the 
amount  of  happiness  derived  from  this  sense  by  imag- 
ining the  condition  of  mankind  were  they  at  once  and 
forever  deprived  of  this  source  of  improvement  and  en- 
joyment. The  voice  of  sympathy,  friendship,  and 
love  would  be  hushed.  The  eloquence  of  the  forum, 
the  debates  of  the  Legislature,  the  instructions  of  the 
pulpit,  would  cease.     The  music  of  nature — its  sigh- 


SENSATION  AND  PERCEPTION.         69 

ing  winds  and  dashing  waters — would  be  stilled,  and 
the  warbling  of  the  groves  would  charm  no  more. 
The  sound  of  pipe,  and  harp,  and  solemn  harmonies  of 
voice  would  never  again  waken  the  soul  to  thrilling 
and  nameless  emotions.  Where  now  ten  thousand 
sounds  of  active  life,  or  cheerful  hum  of  business,  or 
music  of  language  and  song  charm  and  animate  the 
soul,  man  would  walk  forth  in  silence  and  solitude. 

The  operation  of  mere  sound,  disconnected  with  the 
ideas  which  are  often  conveyed  by  it,  is  a  subject  of 
curious  speculation.  Sounds  differ  from  each  other 
in  quality^  ^^2V<:A,  force,  and  in  length.  The  differ- 
ence in  tone  may  be  illustrated  by  the  sounds  of  a 
clarionet  compared  with  the  sound  of  a  bell  or  of  the 
human  voice.  Every  instrument  and  every  human 
voice  has  each  a  peculiar  tone  by  which  it  is  distin- 
guished from  all  others.  The  difference  in  pitch  is 
shown  by  sounding  a  low  and  a  high  note  in  succes- 
sion on  an  instrument.  The  difference  in  force  is  ex- 
hibited by  singing  or  speaking  loud  or  soft. 

There  are  certain  sounds  that  in  themselves  are  ei- 
ther agreeable  or  disagreeable  from  their  tone  alone. 
Thus  the  sound  of  a  flute  is  agreeable,  and  that  of  the 
filing  of  a  saw  is  disagreeable.  Sounds  also  are  agree- 
able according  as  they  succeed  each  other. 

Melody  is  a  succession  of  agreeable  tones  arranged 
in  some  regular  order  as  it  respects  their  duration  and 
succession.  Some  melodies  are  much  more  agreeable 
to  the  ear  than  others.  Some  melodies  produce  a 
plaintive  state  of  mind,  others  exhilarate,  and  this 
without  regard  to  any  thing  except  the  nature  of  the 
sounds  and  their  succession.     Thus  a  very  young  in- 


70  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

fant,  by  a  certain  succession  of  musical  tones,  can  be 
made  either  to  weep  in  sorrow  or  smile  with  joy. 

Harmony  is  a  certain  combination  of  sounds  which 
are  agreeable  to  the  ear ;  and  it  is  found  that  the  mind 
can  be  much  more  powerfully  affected  by  a  combina- 
tion of  harmonious  sounds  than  by  any  melody.  The 
effect  of  music  on  certain  minds  is  veiy  powerful,  often 
awakening  strange  and  indescribable  emotions.  It 
has  been,  therefore,  much  employed  both  to  heighten 
social,  patriotic,  and  devotional  feeling. 

There  is  probably  nothing  which  produces  stronger 
and  more  abiding  associations  in  the  mind  than  music- 
al sounds.  As  an  example  of  this  may  be  mentioned 
the  national  air  which  is  sung  by  the  Swiss  in  their 
native  valleys.  It  is  said  that  when  they  become  wan- 
derers in  foreign  lands,  so  strongly  will  this  wild  mu- 
sic recall  the  scenes  of  their  childhood  and  youth,  their 
native  skies,  their  towering  mountains  and  romantic 
glens,  with  all  the  strong  local  attachments  that  gather 
around  such  objects,  that  their  heart  sickens  with  long- 
ing desires  to  return.  And  so  much  was  this  the  case 
with  the  Swiss  of  the  French  armies,  that  Bonaparte 
forbade  this  air  being  played  among  his  troops.  The 
Marseilles  Hymn,  which  was  chanted  in  the  scenes  of 
the  French  Eevolution,  was  said  to  have  been  perfect- 
ly electrifying,  and  to  have  produced  more  effect  than 
all  the  eloquence  of  orators  or  machinations  of  states- 
men. 

The  mind  seems  to  acquire  by  experience  only  the 
power  of  determining  the  place  whence  sounds  origi- 
nate. It  is  probable  that,  at  first,  sounds  seem  to  orig- 
inate within  the  ear  of  the  person  who  hears  ;  and,  even 


SENSATION   AND   PEECEPTION.  71 

after  long  experience,  cases  have  been  known,  wlien  a 
person  suddenly  waked  from  sleep  imagined  the  throb- 
bing of  his  own  heart  was  a  knocking  at  the  door. 
But  observation  and  experience  soon  teach  us  the  di- 
rection and  the  distance  of  sounds.  The  art  of  the 
ventriloquist  consists  in  nothing  but  the  power  which 
a  nice  and  accurate  ear  gives  him  of  distinguishing  the 
difference  between  sounds  when  near  or  far  off,  and  of 
imitating  them. 

Touch, 

The  sense  of  touch  is  not  confined  to  one  particular 
organ,  but  is  extended  over  the  whole  system,  both  ex- 
ternally and  internally.  It  is  in  the  hands,  however, 
especially  at  the  ends  of  the  fingers,  that  this  sense 
is  most  acute  and  most  employed.  We  acquire  many 
more  ideas  by  the  aid  of  this  sense  than  by  either  hear- 
ing, smell,  or  taste.  By  these  last  wx  become  acquaint- 
ed with  only  one  particular  quality  in  a  body,  either  of 
taste,  smell,  or  sound ;  but  by  means  of  the  touch  we 
learn  such  qualities  as  heat  and  cold,  roughness  and 
smoothness,  hardness  and  softness,  figure,  solidity,  and 
extension. 

It  is  supposed  that  it  is  by  this  sense  that  we  gain 
the  idea  of  something  external^  or  without  ourselves. 
The  sensation  of  smell  would  seem  to  be  within,  as 
an  act  or  emotion  of  the  soul  itself.  Thus  also  with 
hearing,  which,  being  produced  within  the  ear  by  the 
undulating  air,  would  seem  to  originate  within.  Thus 
also  with  sensations  within  the  eye.  But  when  the 
limbs  begin  to  move  and  to  come  in  contact  with  out- 
ward objects,  and  also  in  contact  with  various  parts  of 


72  THE   BIBLE   AND  THE   PJEOPLE. 

the  body,  the  mmd  gains  an  idea  of  the  existence  of 
some  outward  object.  This  is  probably  the  first  sense 
by  which  any  idea  of  existence  is  wakened  in  the  mind. 
As  one  sense  after  another  is  called  into  action,  the 
mind  continually  gains  new  ideas,  and  then  begins  its 
operations  of  comparing,  abstracting,  reasoning,  and 
willing. 

It  is  by  the  sense  of  touch  that  we  gain  our  ideas 
of  resistance  and  extension.  In  the  class  of  ideas  in- 
cluded under  the  head  of  ideas  of  resistance  may  be 
placed  those  of  solidity,  liquidity,  hardness,  softness, 
viscidity,  roughness,  and  smoothness ;  these  all  be- 
ing different  names  for  different  modes  of  resistance 
to  the  muscles  of  the  hands,  arms,  or  fingers,  when  ap- 
plied to  the  bodies  which  have  these  qualities.  These 
ideas  are  not  gained  by  simple  contact ;  their  exist- 
ence depends  upon  the  contraction  or  expansion  of  the 
muscles,  which  are  the  organs  of  motion  and  resistance 
in  the  human  body. 

We  may  suppose  the  infant  to  gain  these  ideas  by 
a  process  somewhat  similar  to  this :  He  first  moves 
his  arms  by  instinct,  without  any  knowledge  of  the 
effects  to  follow.  By  this  movement  he  gains  certain 
ideas  of  the  simple  contractions  and  extension  of  his 
muscles,  and  learns  also  that  by  his  own  will  he  can 
exercise  his  muscles  in  this  manner.  At  length  he  at- 
tempts to  move  his  arm  in  a  manner  to  which  he  has 
become  familiar,  and  some  object  intervenes,  and  mo- 
tion is  prevented,  while  all  his  wonted  muscular  efforts 
are  vain.  Thus  arises  in  his  mind  a  new  idea,  of  re- 
sistance, in  addition  to  the  sensations  of  touch  and  of 
motion,  which  had  before  been  experienced. 


SENSATION  AND  PEECEPTION.         73 

The  ideas  of  different  degrees  of  this  resistance  are 
gained  by  repeated  experience,  and  when  age  furnishes 
the  ability  to  understand  language,  the  names  of  hard- 
ness, softness,  roughness,  and  the  like,  are  given  to  these 
ideas.  In  the  use  of  his  muscles,  also,  the  infant  must 
first  acquire  its  ideas  of  extension  and  figure  ;  for  it 
must  be  where  resistance  to  muscular  effort  ceases  that 
he  must  feel  that  the  cause  ceases  to  exist.  The  lit- 
tle being  extends  his  hand — an  object  intervenes  which 
interrupts  his  muscular  motions ;  he  grasps  this  object, 
and  wherever  this  feeling  of  resistance  exists,  there  he 
feels  that  the  cause  of  it  exists,  and  that  after  he  has 
passed  certain  limits  it  does  not  exist. 

Figure  is  defined  as  the  limits  of  extension^  and,  of 
course,  it  can  be  seen  that  ideas  of  figure  can  only  be 
gained  by  thus  finding  the  limits  of  extension.  It  has 
formerly  been  supposed  that  ideas  of  extension  and  fig- 
ure were  gained  by  the  eye,  but  later  experiments  and 
discussions  show  that  the  sense  of  feeling,  including 
muscular  motion,  is  the  medium  by  which  these  ideas 
are  first  gained,  and  that  afterward  the  eye,  by  the  prin- 
ciple of  association,  acquires  the  power  of  distinguish- 
ing figure  and  distance. 

There  is  much  enjoyment  resulting  from  the  sense 
of  touch  in  many  ways,  a  large  portion  of  which  is  al- 
most unnoticed.  Much  also  included  under  the  term 
comfort  results  from  this  sense.  Much  of  that  which 
is  agreeable  in  clothing  and  in  objects  around  us  is  of 
this  nature.  Besides  this,  there  are  many  endearments 
of  friendship  and  affection  that  gain  expression  only 
through  this  medium. 

D 


74  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

Vision, 

The  organ  of  vision  is  the  eye,  which  is  one  of  the 
most  curious  and  wonderful  parts  of  the  human  frame, 
and  displays  in  astonishing  variety  the  wisdom  and 
skill  of  its  Designer. 

The  eye  consists  of  a  round  ball,  formed  externally 
of  various  coverings,  and  within  of  humors  of  different 
degrees  of  consistency.  The  front  part  of  the  eye, 
which  is  exposed  to  view,  has  a  small  opening  in  it, 
which  admits  the  rays  of  light  within  this  ball,  while 
it  is  by  the  operation  of  light  on  the  nerves,  which  are 
spread  in  fine  net-work  over  the  interior,  that  sight  is 
produced. 

In  examining  the  mechanism  of  the  eye,  a  great  va- 
riety of  contrivances  appear,  all  aiding  in  accomplish- 
ing the  object  of  vision.  In  the  first  place,  we  may 
olDserve  its  modes  of  protection  and  defense.  The  lid 
is  a  soft,  moist  wiper,  which,  with  a  motion  quick 
as  lightning,  protects  the  eye  from  outward  violence, 
cleanses  it  from  dust,  veils  it  from  overpowering  radi- 
ance, and  in  hours  of  repose  entirely  excludes  the  light. 
On  its  edge  is  the  fringing  lash,  which  intercepts  float- 
ing matter  that  miglit  otherwise  intnide,  while  above 
is  spread  the  eyebrow,  which,  like  a  thatch,  obstructs 
the  drops  that  heat  or  toil  accumulate  on  the  brow. 

"We  next  observe  the  organs  of  motion  with  which 
the  eye  is  furnished,  and  which, with  complicated  strings 
and  pulleys,  can  turn  it  every  way  at  the  will  of  the  in- 
telligent agent.  The  piipil  or  oldening  of  the  eye,  also, 
is  so  constructed,  with  its  minute  and  multiplied  circu- 
lar and  crossing  muscles,  that  it  can  contract  or  ex- 


SENSATION  AND  PERCEPTION.         75 

pand  in  size  just  in  proportion  as  the  light  varies  in 
intensity. 

The  ball  of  the  eye  is  filled  with  three  substances 
of  different  degrees  of  density.  One  is  a  watery  hu- 
mor, near  the  front  of  the  eye ;  back  of  this,  and  sus- 
pended by  two  muscles,  is  the  solid  lens  of  the  eye,  or 
the  crystalline  humor  /  and  the  remainder  of  the  eye, 
in  which  this  lens  is  imbedded,  consists  of  the  vitreous 
humor ^  which  is  of  the  consistence  of  jelly.  These  all 
have  different  degrees  of  transparency,  and  are  so  nice- 
ly adjusted  that  the  rays  of  light,  which  start  from  ev- 
ery point  in  all  bodies  in  diverging  lines,  are  by  these 
humors  made  to  converge  and  meet  in  points  on  the 
retina^  or  the  nerve  of  the  eye,  forming  there  a  small 
picture,  exactly  of  the  same  proportions,  though  not 
the  same  size,  as  the  scene  which  is  spread  before  the 
eye. 

When  the  outer  covering  of  the  back  part  of  the  eye 
is  removed,  the  objects  which  are  in  front  of  the  eye 
may  be  discerned,  delicately  portrayed  in  all  their  per- 
fect colors  and  proportions,  on  the  retina  which  lines 
the  interior.  It  is  this  impression  of  light  on  the  op- 
tic nerve  which  gives  our  ideas  of  light  and  colors. 

The  eye  is  also  formed  in  such  a  way  that  it  can 
alter  its  shape  and  become  somewhat  oblong,  while  at 
the  same  time  its  lens  is  projected  forward  or  dra^vn 
back.  The  object  of  this  contrivance  is  to  obtain  an 
equally  perfect  picture  of  distant  and  of  near  objects. 

Our  ideas  of  shape  and  size  at  first  are  not  gained 
by  the  eye,  but  by  the  sense  of  touch.  x4.fter  consid- 
erable experience  we  learn  to  determine  shape  and  size 
by  the  eye.     Experiments  made  upon  persons  bom 


76  THE    BIBLE    AND   THE    PEOPLE. 

blind  and  restored  to  sight  furnish  many  curious  facts 
to  support  this  assertion. 

When  the  eye  first  admits  the  light,  all  objects  ap- 
pear to  touch  the  eye,  and  are  all  a  confused  mass  of 
different  colors.  But  by  continual  observation,  and 
by  the  aid  of  the  sense  of  touch,  objects  gradually  are 
separated  from  each  other,  and  are  then  regarded  as 
separate  and  distinct  existences. 

The  eye  is  so  formed  that  the  picture  of  any  object 
on  the  retina  varies  in  size  according  to  its  distance. 
Two  objects  of  equal  size  will  make  a  different  picture 
on  the  back  of  the  eye,  according  to  the  distance  at 
which  they  are  held.  The  ideas  of  size  at  first  are 
regulated  by  the  proportions  of  this  picture  in  the  eye, 
until  by  experience  it  is  found  that  this  is  an  incorrect 
mode,  and  that  it  is  necessary  to  judge  of  the  distance 
of  a  body  before  we  can  determine  its  size.  This  ac- 
counts for  the  fact  that  objects  appear  to  us  so  differ- 
ent according  as  we  conceive  of  their  distance,  and  that 
we  are  often  deceived  in  the  size  of  bodies  because  we 
have  no  mode  of  determining  their  distance. 

But  it  appears  also  that  our  ideas  of  distance  are 
gained,  not  by  the  eye  alone,  but  by  the  eye  and  the 
sense  of  feeling  united.  A  child  by  the  sense  of  feel- 
ing learns  the  size  of  his  cup  or  his  playthings.  He 
sees  them  removed,  and  that  their  apparent  size  di- 
minishes. They  are  returned  to  him,  and  he  finds 
them  unaltered  in  size.  "When  attempting  to  recover 
them,  he  finds  that  when  they  look  very  small  he  is 
obliged  to  pass  over  a  much  greater  distance  to  gain 
them  than  when  they  appear  large,  and  that  the  dis- 
tance is  always  in  exact  proportion  to  their  apparent 


SENSATION  AND  PEECEPTION.         77 

size.  In  this  way,  by  oft-repeated  experiments,  the 
infant  reasoner  learns  to  judge  both  of  the  size  and  dis- 
tance of  objects.  From  this  it  appears  that,  in  de- 
termining the  size  of  an  object,  we  previously  form 
some  judgment  of  its  distance,  and  likewise  that,  in 
finding  the  distance,  we  first  determine  the  size. 

The  shajpe  of  objects  is  learned  altogether  by  the 
sense  oi  feeling.  It  has  before  been  stated  that  at  the 
first  exercise  of  vision  every  thing  is  a  confused  mass 
of  different  colors,  and  all  appearing  to  touch  the  eye. 
By  the  aid  of  the  hands  the  separate  existence  of  dif- 
ferent bodies  is  detected,  and  the  feeling  of  touch,  which 
once  was  the  sole  mode  of  determining  shape,  is  now 
associated  with  a  certain  form  or  picture  on  the  eye, 
so  that,  in  process  of  time,  the  eye  becomes  the  princi- 
pal judge  of  shape. 

But,  in  determining  the  shape  of  a  thing,  an  act  of 
judgment  is  necessary.  This  may  be  illustrated  by 
the  example  of  a  hoop,  which  in  one  position  will  make 
a  picture  in  the  eye  which  is  circular,  in  another  posi- 
tion the  picture  of  it  will  be  oval,  and  in  another  only 
a  straight  line.  K  a  person  will  observe  a  hoop  in 
these  different  positions,  and  then  attempt  to  draw  a 
picture  of  it,  he  will  be  conscious  of  this  varying  pic- 
ture in  the  eye.  Of  course,  in  order  to  decide  the 
shape  of  a  thing,  we  must  decide  its  distance,  its  rel- 
ative position,  and  various  circumstances  which  would 
alter  the  form  of  the  picture  in  the  eye.  It  is  only 
by  long  experience  that  the  infant  child  gradually  ac- 
quires the  power  of  determining  the  shape,  size,  and 
distance  of  objects. 

The  painter's  art  consists  in  laying  on  to  canvas  an 


78  THE   BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

enlarged  picture  of  the  scene  which  is  painted  in  the 
interior  of  his  own  eye.  In  this  minute  picture  of  the 
eye,  the  more  distant  an  object  the  smaller  its  size, 
the  more  indistinct  its  outline,  and  the  fainter  its  col- 
ors. These  same  are  transferred  to  canvas  in  an  en- 
larged form ;  the  distant  objects  are  made  small  in 
size,  faint  in  colors,  and  indistinct  in  outline,  just  in 
proportion  to  their  distance. 

The  organ  of  vision  is  the  mlet  of  more  enjo}Tnent 
to  the  mind  than  any  of  the  other  senses.  Through 
this  small  loop-hole  the  spirit  looks  forth  on  the  rich 
landscape  of  nature,  and  the  charms  both  of  the  natural 
and  moral  world.  The  fresh  colors,  the  beauty  of  mo- 
tion, the  grace  of  figures,  the  fitness  of  proportion,  and 
all  the  charms  of  taste,  are  discovered  through  this 
medium.  By  the  eye,  also,  we  learn  to  read  the  speak- 
ing face  of  man,  we  greet  the  smile  of  friendship  and 
love,  and  all  those  varying  charms  that  glance  across 
the  human  face  di%'ine.  By  the  aid  of  this  little  or- 
gan, too,  we  climb  not  only  the  summits  of  earth's  do- 
mains, but  wander  forth  to  planets,  stars,  and  suns, 
traverse  the  vast  ethereal  expanse,  and  gather  faint 
images  and  flitting  visions  of  the  spirit's  future  home. 


CONCEPTION  AND  MEMORY.  79 


CHAPTER  X. 

CONCEPTION  AND   MEMORY. 

There  has  been  much  speculation  on  the  question 
as  to  whether  the  mind  possesses  any  ideas  entirely 
independent  of  the  senses,  which  were  gained  without 
any  aid  or  influence  from  them.  Many  have  main- 
tained the  existence  of  some  ideas,  which  they  denom- 
inate innate  ideas,  which  they  suppose  were  originally 
implanted  in  the  mind,  and  not  at  all  dependent  on 
sensation. 

On  this  subject  it  may  be  sufficient  to  remark  that 
there  is  no  proof  of  the  existence  of  any  such  ideas. 
All  ideas,  so  far  as  we  can  trace  them,  seem  to  have 
been  originally  gained  by  the  senses,  though  the  mind 
has  the  power  of  making  new  arrangements  and  com- 
binations of  such  materials  as  are  thus  furnished. 

The  intuitive  truths  seem  to  exist  as  a  part  of  the 
original  constitution  of  the  mind,  but  there  is  no  evi- 
dence that  they  would  ever  have  been  called  into  ex- 
ercise except  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  senses. 

There  is  nothing  to  prove  that  the  positive  exercise 
of  thought,  feeling,  and  volition  is  necessary  to  the  ex- 
istence of  mind,  and  no  proof  that  the  mind  might  not 
have  existed  forever  without  thought  or  feeling  of  any 
kind,  were  it  not  fqr  the  aid  of  the  senses.  We  know 
that  there  are  periods  of  sleep  and  of  swooning,  when 
the  mind  is  in  existence,  and  yet  when  there  is  no  ev- 


80  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

idence  that  either  thoughts,  feelings,  or  volitions  are  in 
exercise. 

Speculations  on  this  subject  seem  to  be  profitless, 
because  there  are  no  data  for  determining  them.  The 
facts  in  the  case  are  not  of  a  character  to  enable  us  to 
j)ronounce  positively  either  that  these  operations  are 
or  are  not  essential  to  its  existence.  It  may  be  that 
in  sleep  and  in  a  swoon  these  phenomena  exist,  and  no 
memory  is  retained  of  them,  and  it  is  equally  probable 
that  at  such  intervals  all  mental  operations  entirely 
cease. 

But,  now  that  the  mind  has  been  furnished  by  the 
senses  with  its  splendid  acquisitions,  upon  whicli  its 
reflective  powers  can  act,  it  is  easy  to  believe  that  it 
might  continue  to  exist  and  to  be  in  active  exercise 
if  all  its  bodily  senses,  and  even  its  material  envelope, 
were  destroyed.  Should  we  never  again  behold  the 
light  of  heaven,  nor  be  charmed  with  the  profusion  of 
varied  color  and  form,  still  the  mind  could  busy  itself 
with  pleasing  visions  of  brilliant  dyes,  of  graceful  out- 
line, and  fair  proportion,  as  bright  and  as  beautiful  as 
any  objects  of  sense  could  awaken.  Should  we  never 
again  inhale  the  freshness  of  morning  or  the  perfumes 
of  spring,  the  mind  itself  could  furnish  from  its  stores 
some  treasured  incense,  never  to  be  entirely  exhaled. 
Should  the  palate  never  again  be  cooled  by  the  fresh- 
ening water  of  spring,  or  be  refreshed  by  the  viands  of 
the  luxuriant  year,  yet  fancy  could  spread  forth  her 
golden  fruits  and  sparkling  juices  in  banquets  as  va- 
ried and  profuse  as  ever  greeted  the  most  fastidious 
taste.  Should  the  melodies  of  speech  and  of  music 
be  heard  no  more,  and  the  sweet  harmonies  of  nature 


CONCEPTION   AND   MEMORY.  81 

and  of  art  forever  be  huslied,  yet  the  exulting  spirit 
could  warble  its  own  songs,  and  melt  in  ecstasies  with 
imagined  harmonies.  And  should  the  grasp  of  friend- 
ship rejoice  us  no  more,  nor  the  embrace  of  affection 
send  joy  to  the  heart,  yet  still  the  spirit  would  not  be 
desolate,  for  it  could  gather  around  it  the  beings  most 
loved,  and  still  feel  the  embraces  of  affection. 

Conceptions  are  distinguished  into  two  classes  with 
reference  to  this  one  fact,  that  some  of  our  conceptions 
are  attended  with  a  consciousness  that  they  have  ex- 
isted before,  and  others  are  not.  Those  conceptions 
which  are  thus  attended  with  the  feeling  of  their  re- 
semblance to  past  perceptions  or  conceptions  are  called 
ideas  of  'memory  ;  those  of  our  perceptions  also  which 
are  attended  with  this  recognition  are  called  memory. 

How  important  to  our  happiness  and  improvement 
is  this  recognition  of  past  ideas,  few  are  wont  to  imag- 
ine. If  all  our  knowledo;e  of  external  thino;s  were  for- 
ever  lost  to  us  after  sensation  is  past,  our  existence 
would  be  one  of  mere  sensitive  enjoyment,  and  all  the 
honor  and  dignity  of  mind  would  be  destroyed.  No 
past  experience  could  be  of  any  avail,  nor  could  any 
act  of  judgment  or  of  reasoning  be  performed.  Even 
the  most  common  wants  of  animal  nature  could  not  be 
supplied ;  for,  were  the  cooling  water  and  sustaining 
food  presented  to  the  sight,  no  memory  of  the  past 
comfort  secured  by  them  would  lead  the  mind  to  seek 
it  again.  Or,  had  nature,  by  some  implanted  instinct, 
provided  for  these  necessities,  yet  life  in  this  case  would 
have  consisted  of  a  mere  succession  of  sensations,  with- 
out even  the  amount  of  intellect  of  which  the  lower  ani- 
mals give  proof. 

D2 


82  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

It  is  the  capacity  of  retrospection,  too,  which  gives 
us  the  power  of  foreseeing  the  future,  and  thus  of  look- 
ing both  before  and  behind  for  sources  of  enjoyment  in 
delightful  reminiscences  and  joyful  anticipations.  It  is 
this  power  of  remembrance  and  foresight  which  raises 
man  to  be  the  image  of  his  Creator,  the  miniature  of 
Him  who  sees  the  end  from  the  beginning,  who  looks 
back  on  never  commencing  ages,  and  forward  through 
eternal  years. 

It  is  true  the  mind  of  man  can  foresee  only  by  the 
process  of  reasoning,  by  which  it  is  inferred  that  the 
future  wiU,  in  given  circumstances,  resemble  the  past. 
And  how  the  Eternal  Mind  can  foresee  by  intuition  all 
the  events  which  hang  upon  the  volitions  of  the  myr- 
iads of  acting  minds  which  he  has  formed  is  what  no 
human  intellect  can  grasp.  The  foresight  of  intui- 
tion has  not  been  bestowed  upon  man,  but  is  reserved 
as  one  distinctive  prerogative  of  Deity. 


ATTENTION  AND  ABSTEACTION.  83 


CHAPTER  XL 

ATTENTION  AND  ABSTEACTION. 

To  understand  clearly  the  nature  of  the  mental 
phenomena  called  attention  and  abstraction^  two  facts 
in  our  mental  history  need  definitely  to  be  understood 
— facts  which  have  a  decided  bearing  on  the  nature  and 
character  of  almost  all  the  operations  of  mind. 

The  first  is,  that  the  objects  of  our  conceptions  are 
seldom,  if  ever,  isolated,  disconnected  objects.  On  the 
contrary,  there  is  an  extended  and  complex  picture  be- 
fore the  mind,  including  often  a  great  variety  of  ob- 
jects, with  their  several  qualities,  relations,  and  chan- 
ges. In  this  mental  picture  some  objects  are  clear  and 
distinct,  while  others  seem  to  float  along  in  shadowy 
vagueness. 

This  fact  must  be  evident  to  any  mind  that  will 
closely  examine  its  own  mental  operations.  It  is  also 
equally  evident  when  we  consider  the  mode  in  which 
our  ideas  are  gained  by  perception.  We  never  acquire 
our  ideas  in  single  disconnected  lineaments.  We  are 
continually  viewing  complex  objects  with  numerous 
qualities  and  surrounded  by  a  great  variety  of  circum- 
stances, which  unitedly  form  a  whole  in  one  act  of  per- 
ception. 

Indeed,  there  are  ferw  objects,  either  of  perception  or 
conception,  which,  however  close  the  process  of  abstrac- 
tion, do  not  remain  complex  in  their  nature.  The  sim- 
plest forms  of  matter  are  combined  ideas  of  extension, 


84  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

figure,  color,  and  relation.  These  different  ideas  we 
gain  by  the  aid  of  the  different  senses.  Of  course,  our 
conceptions  are  combinations  of  different  qualities  in 
an  object  which  the  mind  considers  as  one^  and  as  dis- 
tinct from  other  objects. 

Each  item,  then,  in  any  mental  picture  is  itself  a  com- 
plex object,  and  each  mental  picture  is  formed  by  a 
combination  of  such  complex  objects.  It  w^ill  be  found 
very  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  mention  a  name 
which  recalls  any  object  of  sense  in  which  the  concep- 
tion recalled  by  the  word  is  a  single  disconnected  thing, 
without  any  idea  of  place  or  any  attendant  circum- 
stances, and,  as  before  remarked,  almost  all  objects  of 
sense  are  complex  objects,  combining  several  ideas, 
which  were  gained  through  the  instrumentality  of  dif- 
ferent senses.  The  idea  of  color  is  gained  by  one 
sense,  of  position,  shape,  and  consistency  by  another, 
and  other  qualities  and  powers  which  the  mind  associ- 
ates with  it  by  other  senses. 

The  other  fact  necessaiy  to  the  correct  understand- 
ing of  the  subject  is  the  influence  which  the  desires 
and  emotions  have  upon  the  character  both  of  the  per- 
ceptions and  conceptions  with  which  they  coexist. 

It  will  be  found  that  our  sensatio?is  vary  in  vivid- 
ness and  distinctness  according  to  the  strength  and 
permanency  of  certain  feelings  of  desire  which  coexist 
with  them.  For  example,  we  are  continually  hearing 
a  multitude  of  sounds,  but  in  respect  to  many  of  them, 
as  we  feel  no  desire  to  know  the  cause  or  nature  of 
them,  these  sensations  are  so  feeble  and  indistinct  as 
scarcely  ever  to  be  recalled  to  the  mind  or  recognized 
by  any  act  of  memory;  but  should  we  hear  some 


ATTENTION   AND   ABSTRACTION.  85 

strange  wailing  sound,  immediately  the  desire  would 
arise  to  ascertain  its  nature  and  cause.  It  would  im- 
mediately become  an  object  of  distinct  and  vivid  per- 
ception, and  continue  so  as  long  as  the  desire  lasted. 

While  one  sensation  becomes  thus  clear  and  prom- 
inent, it  will  be  found  that  other  sensations  which 
were  coexisting  with  it  will  become  feebler  and  seem 
to  die  away.  The  same  impressions  may  still  be 
made  upon  the  eye  as  before,  the  same  sounds  that 
had  previously  been  regarded  may  still  strike  upon  the 
ear,  but  while  the  desire  continues  to  learn  the  cause 
of  that  strange  wailing  sound,  the  other  sensations 
would  all  be  faint  and  indistinct.  When  this  desire 
is  gratified,  then  other  sensations  would  resume  their 
former  distinctness  and  prominency. 

Our  conceptions,  in  like  manner,  are  affected  by  the 
coexistence  of  emotion  or  desire.  If,  for  example,  we 
are  employing  ourselves  in  study  or  mental  specula- 
tions, the  vividness  of  our  conceptions  will  vaiy  in  ex- 
act proportion  to  the  interest  we  feel  in  securing  the 
object  about  which  our  conceptions  are  employed.  K 
we  feel  but  little  interest  in  the  subject  of  our  specu- 
lations, every  conception  connected  with  theni'  will  be 
undefined  and  indistinct ;  but  if  the  desire  of  approba- 
tion, or  the  admonitions  of  conscience,  or  the  hope  of 
securing  some  future  good  stimulate  desire,  immedi- 
ately our  conceptions  grow  more  vivid  and  clear,  and 
the  object  at  which  we  aim  is  more  readily  and  speed- 
ily secured.  The  great  art,  then,  of  quickening  men- 
tal vigor  and  activity,  and  of  gaining  clear  and  quick 
conceptions,  is  to  awaken  interest  and  excite  desire. 
When  this  is  secured,  conceptions  will  immediately  be- 


86  THE   BIBLE   AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

come  bright  and  clear,  and  all  mental  operations  will 
be  carried  forward  with  facility  and  speed. 

The  distinction  between  attention  and  abstraction 
is  not  great,  but,  as  it  is  recognized  in  language,  it 
needs  to  be  definitely  understood.  Attention  has  been 
defined  as  "  the  direction  of  the  mind  to  some  partic- 
ular object,  from  the  interest  which  is  felt  in  that  ob- 
ject." It  consists  simply  in  a  feeling  of  desire  coex- 
isting with  our  sensations  and  conceptions,  and  thus 
rendering  them  vivid  and  distinct ;  while,  in  conse- 
quence of  this  fact,  all  other  sensations  and  concep- 
tions seem  to  fade  and  grow  indistinct. 

Attention  seems  to  be  the  generic  exercise,  and  ab- 
straction one  species  of  the  same  thing.  Attention  is 
used  to  express  the  interest  which  attends  our  percep- 
tions or  conceptions  as  ichole  objects,  thus  rendering 
them  clear  and  distinct  from  other  surrounding  objects. 
Abstraction  is  that  particular  act  of  attention  which 
makes  one  part  or  one  quality  of  a  complex  object  be- 
come vivid  and  distinct,  while  other  parts  and  quali- 
ties grow  faint  and  indistinct.  Thus,  in  viewing  a 
landscape,  we  should  be  said  to  exercise  the  power  of 
attention  if  we  noticed  some  object,  such  as  a  stream 
or  a  bridge,  while  other  objects  were  more  slightly  re- 
garded ;  and  we  should  exercise  the  power  of  abstrac- 
tion if  we  noticed  the  color  of  the  bridge  or  the  width 
of  the  stream,  while  their  other  qualities  were  not 
equally  regarded. 

It  is  the  power  of  abstraction  which  is  the  founda- 
tion of  language  in  its  present  use.  Were  it  not  for 
the  power  which  the  mind  has  of  abstracting  certain 
qualities  and  circumstances  of  things,  and  considering 


ATTENTION   AND   ABSTRACTION.  87 

them  as  separate  and  distinct  from  all  other  parts  and 
qualities,  no  words  could  be  used  except  such  as  spe- 
cify particular  individuals.  Every  object  that  meets 
our  eye  would  demand  a  separate  and  peculiar  name, 
thus  making  the  acquisition  of  language  the  labor  of 
a  life. 

But  now  the  mind  possesses  the  power  of  abstract- 
ing a  greater  or  fewer  number  of  qualities,  and  to  these 
qualities  a  name  is  given,  and  whenever  these  quali- 
ties are  found  combined  in  any  object,  this  name  can 
be  applied.  Thus  the  name  animal  is  given  to  any 
thing  which  has  the  qualities  of  existence  and  animal 
life,  and  the  name  quadrwped  is  given  to  any  object 
which  has  the  qualities  of  animal  life  and  of  four  legs. 

Every  thing  which  is  regarded  by  the  mind  as  a 
separate  existence  must  have  some  peculiar  quality,  or 
action,  or  circumstance  of  time  or  place,  to  distinguish 
it  firom  every  other  existence.  Were  there  not  some- 
thing, either  in  the  qualities  or  circumstances,  which 
made  each  object  in  some  respects  peculiar,  there  would 
be  no  way  to  distinguish  one  thing  from  another. 

Kjproxni'  name  is  one  which  is  used  to  recall  the 
properties  and  circumstances  which  distinguish  one  in- 
dividual existence  from  every  other.  Such  is  the  word 
Mount  Blanc,  which  recalls  certain  qualities  and  cir- 
cumstances that  distinguish  one  particular  thing  from 
all  others,  and  the  name  Julius  Csesar,  which  recalls 
the  character,  qualities,  and  circumstances  which  dis- 
tinguish one  being  from  every  other. 

Some  words,  then,  are  used  to  recall  the  peculiar 
qualities  and  circumstances  of  individual  existences, 
and  are  called  jprojper  names  ;  other  words  are  used  to 


88  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

recall  a  combination  of  certain  qualities  and  circum- 
stances, wliich  unitedly  are  an  object  of  conception, 
but  are  not  considered  by  the  mind  as  belonging  to 
any  real  particular  existence.  These  last  words  are 
called  general  terms  or  common  names. 

A  great  variety  of  names  may  be  applied  to  the 
same  object  of  conception  or  perception,  according  to 
the  number  of  qualities  and  circumstances  which  are 
abstracted  by  the  mind.  Thus  an  object  may  be  called 
a  thing^  and,  in  this  case,  the  simple  circumstance  of 
existence  is  what  is  recalled  by  the  word.  The  same 
object  may  be  called  an  animal,  and  then  the  qualities 
of  existence  and  animal  life  are  made  the  objects  of 
conception.  It  can  also  be  called  a  'inan,  and  then,  in 
addition  to  the  qualities  recalled  by  the  word  animal, 
are  recalled  those  qualities  which  distinguish  man  from 
all  other  animals.  It  can  also  be  called  sl  father,  and 
then  to  the  qualities  recalled  by  the  term  man  is  add- 
ed the  circumstance  of  his  relation  to  some  other  being. 
The  same  object  can  be  called  La  Fayette,  and  then, 
to  aU  the  preceding  qualities,  would  be  added  in  our 
conceptions  all  those  peculiar  qualities  and  circumstan- 
ces which  distinguish  the  hero  of  France  from  all  oth- 
er existences. 

The  following  wiU  probably  illustrate  the  mode  by 
which  the  human  mind  first  acquues  the  proper  use  of 
these  general  terms.  The  infant  child  leams  to  distin- 
guish one  existence  from  another  probably  long  before 
he  acquu-es  the  use  of  any  names  by  which  to  desig- 
nate them.  We  may  suppose  that  a  little  dog  is  an 
inmate  of  his  nursery,  and  that  with  the  sight  of  this 
animal  has  often  been  associated  the  sound  of  the  word 


ATTENTION   AND  ABSTRACTION.  89 

dog.  This  is  so  often  repeated,  that,  by  the  principle 
of  association,  the  sight  of  the  object  and  the  sound  of 
the  word  invariably  recur  together.  He  observes  that 
this  sound  is  used  by  those  around  him  in  order  to  di- 
rect his  attention  to  the  animal,  and  he  himself  soon 
uses  the  word  to  direct  the  attention  of  others  in  the 
same  way. 

But  soon  it  happens  that  another  animal  is  intro- 
duced into  his  apartment,  which  in  many  respects  re- 
sembles the  object  he  has  learned  to  call  a  dog.  To 
this  new  object  he  would  apply  the  same  term,  but  he 
finds  that  others  use  the  sound  cat  in  connection  with 
the  sight  of  this  new  animal.  He  soon  learns  the  dif- 
ference between  the  two  objects,  the  particulars  in 
which  they  agree,  and  those  in  which  they  differ.  He 
afterward  notices  other  animals  of  these  species,  and 
observes  that  some  have  the  qualities  to  which  the  term 
dog  is  applied,  and  others  those  to  which  the  term  cat 
is  applied. 

He  continues  to  notice  animals  of  other  kinds,  and, 
after  long  experience  in  this  way,  he  learns  to  apply 
names  to  designate  a  particular  combination  of  quali- 
ties, and,  whenever  these  qualities  are  found  combined, 
he  has  a  term  ready  to  apply  to  them.  He  learns  that 
some  words  are  used  to  point  out  the  peculiar  quali- 
ties which  distinguish  one  thing  from  all  others,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  other  words  are  used  which  simply 
recall  qualities,  but  do  not  designate  any  particular  ex- 
istence to  which  they  belong.  Thus  the  term  hoy  he 
uses  for  the  purpose  of  designating  qualities  without 
conceiving  of  any  particular  existence  in  which  they 
are  found,  while  the  term  Mary  is  used  to  designate 


90  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

the  qualities  and  circumstances  of  the  particular  exist- 
ence he  finds  as  the  companion  of  his  sports. 

All  objects  of  our  perceptions  are  arranged  into  class- 
es, according  to  the  peculiar  combination  of  qualities 
which  are  recalled  by  the  names  employed  to  designate 
them.  For  example,  all  objects  that  have  the  quali- 
ties of  existence  and  of  animal  life  are  arranged  in  one 
class,  and  are  called  aniinals.  All  those  which  have 
the  qualities  recalled  by  the  term  animal,  and  the  addi- 
tional qualities  of  wings  and  feathers,  are  arranged  in 
another  class  called  birds.  Ml  those  objects  which 
have  the  qualities  included  in  the  term  hijxl,  together 
with  several  additional  quahties,  are  arranged  in  an- 
other class,  and  called  eagles. 

To  these  various  classes  the  terms  genera  and  spe- 
cies are  applied.  These  terms  imply  a  relation,  or  the 
comparison  of  one  class  with  another,  in  reference  to 
the  nuinber  of  qualities  to  be  recalled  by  the  terms 
employed.  Thus  the  class  bird  is  called  a  sjMcies  of 
the  class  animal,  because  it  includes  all  the  qualities 
that  are  combined  in  the  conception  recalled  by  the 
word  animal,  and  others  in  addition  ;  but  the  class  bird 
is  called  a  genus  in  relation  to  the  class  eagle,  because 
it  contains  only  a  part  of  the  qualities  which  are  re- 
called by  the  term  eagle. 

A  genus  may  be  defined  as  a  class  of  things  the 
name  of  which  recalls  feioer  particulars  than  the  name 
of  another  class  or  species  with  which  it  is  compared. 
Bird  is  a  genus  when  compared  with  the  class  eagle, 

A  species  is  a  class  of  things  the  name  of  which  re- 
calls more  particulars  than  the  name  of  another  class 
or  genus  with  which  it  is  compared.  JBh'd  is  a  spe- 
cies when  compared  with  the  class  animal. 


ATTENTION   AND   ABSTE ACTION.  91 

In  examining  language,  it  -\viil  he  found  that  the 
larger  portion  of  words  in  common  use  are  names  of 
genera  and  species — that  is,  they  are  words  employed 
to  recall  ideas  as  they  are  arranged  in  genera  and  spe- 
cies. It  is  only  those  words  that  are  j^^ojyer  names 
which  recall  conceptions  of  the  particular  existences 
by  which  we  are  surrounded.  Some  of  these  sur- 
rounding existences  are  furnished  with  these  particular 
names,  and  others  can  be  designated  and  distinguished 
from  each  other  only  by  a  description.  Thus  we  see 
some  hills  around  our  horizon,  some  of  which  have  a 
peculiar  name,  and  others  can  be  designated  only  by 
describing  the  circumstances  which  distinguish  them 
from  all  other  hills. 

A  definition  of  a  word  is  an  enumeration  of  the  sev- 
eral qualities  or  circumstances  which  distinguish  cer- 
tain things  from  all  others,  and  which  are  recalled  to 
the  mind  when  the  word  is  used.  Thus,  if  the  word 
animal  is  to  be  defined,  we  do  it  by  mentioning  the 
circumstances  of  its  existence  and  animal  life,  as  the 
ideas  recalled  by  the  word.  Generally,  a  word  is  de- 
fined by  mentioning  the  name  of  some  genus  of  which 
the  thing  intended  is  a  sjjecies,  and  then  adding  those 
particular  qualities  which  the  species  has,  in  addition 
to  those  included  under  the  genus.  Thus,  if  we  are  to 
define  the  word  77icm,  we  mention  the  genus  animal, 
and  then  the  qualities  which  man  has  in  addition  to 
those  possessed  by  other  animals.  Thus :  '-'-Man  is 
an  animal,  having  the  human  form,  and  a  spirit  en- 
dowed with  intellect,  susceptibility,  and  will." 

There  are  some  words  which  recall  only  one  quality 
or  circumstance,  and  which,  therefore,  can  not  be  de- 
fined like  the  words  which  recall  various  qualities  and 


92  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

circumstances,  as  joy,  sorrow,  color,  and  the  like.  Such 
words  as  these  are  defined  by  mentioning  the  times  or 
circumstances  when  the  mind  is  conscious  of  the  ex- 
istence of  the  idea  to  be  recalled  by  the  word.  Thus 
joy  is  "  a  state  of  mind  which  exists  when  any  ardent 
desire  is  gratified."  Color  is  "a  quality  of  objects 
which  is  perceived  when  light  enters  the  eye." 

Those  conceptions  which  can  be  defined  by  enumer- 
ating the  several  qualities  and  circumstances  which 
compose  them  are  called  complex  ideas,  and  the  words 
used  to  designate  them  are  called  comjolex  terms. 
Such  words  as  landscape,  wrestler,  giant,  and  philoso- 
pher, are  complex  terms.  The  word  landscape  recalls 
a  complex  idea  of  various  material  things.  The  word 
wrestler  recalls  an  idea  of  a  material  object  and  one  of 
its  actions.  The  word  giant  recalls  an  idea  of  a  thing 
and  its  relation  as  to  size.  The  word  philosopher  re- 
calls the  idea  of  a  thing  and  one  of  its  qualities. 

Those  conceptions  which  are  not  composed  of  sev- 
eral qualities  and  circumstances,  but  are  themselves  a 
single  quality  or  circumstance,  are  called  simple  ideas, 
and  the  words  used  to  recall  them  are  called  simple 
te'i^ns.  Such  words  as  sweetness,  loudness,  depth, 
pain,  and  joy,  are  simple  terms.  Some  tei*ms  which 
express  emotions  of  the  mind  are  entirely  simple,  such 
as  sorrow,  joy,  and  happiness.  Others  are  words 
which  recall  an  idea  of  a  simple  emotion  and  of  its 
cause,  such,  for  example,  as  gratitude,  which  expresses 
the  idea  of  an  emotion  of  mind  and  also  that  it  was 
caused  by  some  benefit  confeiTcd.  Words  that  ex- 
press simple  ideas  can  be  defined  only  by  some  de- 
scription of  the  circumstances  in  which  these  ideas  ex- 
ist, or  by  a  reference  to  their  causes  or  efiects. 


ASSOCIATION.  9S 


CHAPTER  XIL 

ASSOCIATION. 

The  causes  of  the  particular  succession  of  our  ideas, 
and  the  control  which  the  mind  has  in  regulating  this 
succession,  is  a  subject  no  less  interesting  than  import- 
ant ;  for  if  by  any  act  of  choice  the  mind  has  the  pow- 
er of  regulating  its  own  thoughts  and  feelings,  then 
man  is  a  free  agent  and  an  accountable  being ;  but  if 
the  conceptions  and  the  emotions  depend  entirely  upon 
the  constitution  of  things,  and  thus,  either  directly  or 
indirectly,  on  the  will  of  the  Creator,  then  man  can  not 
be  accountable  for  that  over  which  he  can  have  no  con- 
trol. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  has  been  illustrated  the 
effect  which  the  co-existence  of  desire  has  in  regard 
both  to  our  sensations  and  our  conceptions,  tending  to 
make  those  w^hich  are  fitted  to  accomplish  the  object 
desired  very  vivid  and  prominent,  while  others,  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  disappear. 

The  mind  is  continually  under  the  influence  of  some 
desire.  It  constantly  has  some  plan  to  accomplish, 
some  cause  to  search  out,  or  some  gratification  to  se- 
cure. The  present  wish  or  desire  of  the  mind  imparts 
an  interest  to  whatever  conception  seems  calculated  to 
forward  this  object.  Thus,  if  the  mathematician  has 
a  problem  to  solve,  and  this  is  the  leading  desire  of 
the  mind,  among  the  various  conceptions  that  arise, 
those  are  the  most  interesting  which  are  fitted  to  his 


94  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

object,  and  sucli  immediately  become  vivid  and  dis- 
tinct. If  the  painter  or  the  poet  is  laboring  to  effect 
some  new  creation  of  his  art,  and  has  this  as  the  lead- 
ing object  of  desire,  whatever  conceptions  seem  best 
fitted  to  his  purpose  are  immediately  invested  with  in- 
terest, and  become  distinct  and  clear.  K  the  mer- 
chant, or  the  capitalist,  or  the  statesman  has  some  proj- 
ect which  he  is  toiling  to  accomplish,  whatever  concep- 
tions appear  adapted  to  his  purpose  soon  are  glowing 
and  defined,  in  consequence  of  the  interest  with  which 
desire  thus  invests  them. 

From  this  it  appears  that  the  nature  of  the  desire, 
or  governing  purpose  of  the  mind,  will  in  a  great  meas- 
ure determine  the  nature  and  the  succession  of  its  con- 
ceptions. If  a  man  has  chosen  to  find  his  chief  hap- 
piness in  securing  power  and  honor,  then  those  concep- 
tions will  be  the  most  interesting  to  his  mind  that  best 
fall  in  with  his  object.  If  he  has  chosen  to  find  hap- 
piness in  securing  the  various  gTatifi cations  of  sense, 
then  those  conceptions  that  most  coincide  "with  this 
desire  will  become  prominent.  If  a  man  has  chosen 
to  find  his  chief  enjoyment  in  doing  the  will  of  God, 
then  his  conceptions  will,  to  a  great  extent,  be  con- 
formed to  this  object  of  desire.  The  current  of  a  man's 
thoughts,  therefore,  becomes  the  surest  mode  of  determ- 
ining what  is  the  governing  purpose  or  leading  desire 
of  the  mind. 

But  there  are  seasons  in  our  mental  history  when 
the  mind  does  not  seem  to  be  under  the  influence  of 
any  governing  desire ;  when  it  seems  to  relax,  and  its 
thoughts  appear  to  flow  on  without  any  regulating 
principle.     At  such  times  the  vividness  of  leading 


ASSOCIATION.  95 

conceptions,  which  otherwise  is  determined  by  desire^ 
seems  to  depend  upon  our  past  experience.  Those 
objects  which,  in  past  experience,  have  been  associated 
with  emotion,  are  those  which  the  mind  selects,  and 
which  thus  begin  to  glow  in  the  distinct  lineaments 
with  which  emotion  at  first  invested  them. 

In  past  experience,  all  conceptions  which  were  at- 
tended with  emotion  were  most  distinct  and  clear,  and 
therefore,  when  such  conceptions  return  united  with 
others,  they  are  the  ones  which  are  most  interesting, 
and  thus  most  vivid  and  distinct.  Thus,  in  our  mus- 
ing hours  of  idle  reverie,  as  one  picture  after  another 
glides  before  the  mind,  if  some  object  occurs,  such  as 
the  home  of  our  youth,  or  the  friend  of  our  early  days, 
the  emotions  which  have  so  often  been  united  with 
these  objects  in  past  experience  cause  them  to  appear 
in  clear  and  glowing  lineaments,  and  the  stronger  have 
been  the  past  emotions  connected  with  them,  the  more 
clearly  will  they  be  defined.  It  appears,  then,  that 
there  are  two  circumstances  that  account  for  the  ap- 
parent selection  which  the  mind  makes  in  its  objects  of 
conception.  The  first  is  the  feeling  that  certain  con- 
ceptions are  fitted  to  accomplish  the  leading  desire  of 
the  tnind ;  and  the  second  is,  that  certain  objects  in 
jpast  experience  have  been  attended  with  emotion. 

But  there  is  another  phenomenon  in  our  mental  his- 
tory which  has  a  direct  bearing  on  the  nature  and  suc- 
cession of  our  conceptions.  When  any  conception, 
through  the  influence  of  desire  or  emotion,  becomes  the 
prominent  object,  immediately  other  objects  with  which 
this  has  been  associated  in  past  experience  begin  to 
return  and  gather  around  it  in  new  combinations. 


96  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

Thus  a  new  picture  is  presented  before  the  mind,  from 
which  it  again  selects  an  object  according  as  desire  or 
emotion  regulates,  which,  under  this  influence,  grows 
vivid  and  distinct.  Around  this  new  object  immedi- 
ately begin  to  cluster  its  past  associates,  till  still  an- 
other scene  is  fresh  arrayed  before  the  mind. 

In  these  new  combinations,  those  objects  which  are 
least  interesting  continually  disappear,  while  those 
most  interesting  are  retained  to  form  a  part  of  the  suc- 
ceeding picture.  Thus,  in  every  mental  picture,  de- 
sire or  emotion  seems  to  call  forth  objects  which  start 
out,  as  it  were,  in  bold  relief  from  all  others,  and  call 
from  the  shade  of  obscurity  the  companions  of  their 
former  existence,  which  gather  around  them  in  new 
and  varied  combinations. 

Almost  every  object  of  thought  in  past  experience 
has  been  connected  with  a  great  number  of  other  ob- 
jects, and  so  great  has  been  the  variety  of  its  former 
combinations,  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  predict, 
with  any  degree  of  certainty,  which  of  its  past  associ- 
ates will  be  summoned  to  aid  in  forming  the  new  men- 
tal scenes  which  are  destined  to  arise.  Yet  experi- 
ence has  enabled  us  to  detect  some  general  laws,  which 
appear  to  regulate  these  combinations. 

ThQ  first  is,  that  those  objects  are*  most  likely  to  at- 
tend each  other  which  in  past  experience  were  united, 
while  some  strong  emotion  was  existing  with  them. 
If,  for  example,  a  retired  lake  had  been  the  scene  of 
death  to  a  beloved  friend,  the  conception  of  this  object 
would  be  almost  invariably  associated  with  the  image 
of  the  friend  that  had  perished  beneath  its  waters,  and 
also  with  the  scene  of  his  death.     In  like  manner,  if 


ASSOCIATION.  97 

some  friend  had  expired  at  a  certain  hour  of  the  day, 
or  on  a  particular  day  of  the  year,  the  return  of  these 
seasons  would  probably  be  associated  with  the  sorrow- 
ful scenes  connected  with  them  in  past  experience. 

The  second  law  of  association  is,  that  long  continued 
or  frequently  repeated  attention  to  objects  that  are 
connected  at  the  time  of  this  attention  will  secure  the 
connected  return  of  these  objects.  Attention,  it  may 
be  recollected,  is  desire  united  with  our  conceptions, 
thus  rendering  them  more  vivid. 

It  seems  to  produce  the  same  effect  if  this  atten- 
tion is  long  continued  or  if  it  is  frequently  repeated. 
Thus,  if  the  mind  has  dwelt  for  a  long  time  on  a 
beautiful  picture,  has  noticed  all  its  proportions,  its 
shading,  its  outline,  and  its  colors  with  minute  atten- 
tion, one  object  in  this  picture  can  not  recur  to  the 
mind  without  bringing  with  it  the  other  objects  that 
were  associated  at  the  time  of  this  close  attention. 
The  frequent  repetition  of  a  sentence  is  a  case  where 
oft  repeated  though  short  attention  to  certain  words 
has  the  effect  of  recalling  them  to  the  mind  in  the  con- 
nection in  which  they  were  placed  during  this  repeated 
attention. 

The  third  law  of  association  is,  that  objects  which 
have  recently  been  associated  in  experience  are,  on  this 
account,  more  likely  to  recall  each  other  than  to  recall 
those  which  were  connected  with  them  at  a  more  re- 
mote period  of  time.  The  passage  of  time,  as  a  gen- 
eral fact,  seems  to  weaken  the  vividness  of  our  concep- 
tions, and  to  destroy  the  probability  of  their  associate 
recurrence.  Thus  a  line  of  poetry  may  be  repeated, 
and  the  listener  may  be  able,  the  moment  after,  to  re- 
E 


98  THE   BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

call  each  word,  but  the  next  day  the  whole  may  he 
lost. 

The  fou?'tk  law  of  association  is,  that  the  recurrence 
of  associated  objects  depends,  in  a  great  measure,  upon 
the  number  of  objects  with  which  it  may  have  been 
connected  in  past  experience.  If  it  has  existed  in 
combination  with  only  one  object,  that  object  will  re- 
turn associated  with  it ;  but  in  proportion  as  the  num- 
ber of  its  associates  increases,  the  power  of  determin- 
ing which  will  be  its  next  companion  diminishes.  As 
an  example  of  this  fact  may  be  mentioned  the  first 
hearing  of  a  .beautiful  air  by  some  particular  person. 
The  next  time  it  is  heard,  the  idea  of  this  performer 
will  be  associated  with  the  sounds ;  but  after  it  has 
been  sung  by  a  great  variety  of  persons,  other  cir- 
cumstances would  determine  what  conceptions  this  air 
would  recall.  It  is  very  probable,  in  this  case,  that 
its  notes  would  recall  from  among  the  associated 
scenes  the  friend  most  beloved,  or  some  interesting  cir- 
cumstance that  awakened  emotion  at  the  time  the  air 
was  performed. 

The  principal  circumstances  which  operate  in  recall- 
ing associated  ideas  have  now  been  pointed  out.  The 
next  inquiry  is,  What  are  those  objects  and  events 
which  ordinarily  are  most  frequently  united  in  our 
perceptions,  and  therefore  are  most  likely  to  return  to- 
gether in  our  conceptioJis  ? 

The  most  common  connection  of  our  ideas  of  per- 
ception are  made  by  contiguity  in  place.  Objects  are 
continually  passing  before  the  eye,  and  they  are  not 
in  single  distinct  objects,  but  in  connected  groups. 
Of  course,  when  we  perceive  any  object,  we  must  nee- 


ASSOCIATION.  99 

essarily  observe  its  several  relations  to  the  things  by 
which  it  is  surrounded.  If  it  is  a  building  which 
meets  the  eye,  it  is  impossible  to  observe  it  without 
at  the  same  time  perceiving  the  trees  around  it,  the 
sky  above  it,  and  any  other  objects  which  are  parts  of 
the  picture  of  which  this  is  the  prominent  object.  Of 
course,  objects  that  are  united  in  one  complex  picture 
before  the  eye  when  we  gain  our  knowledge  of  them 
by  perception,  will  ordinarily  return  together  in  our 
conceptions. 

Our  ideas,  also,  are  very  much  connected  by  conti- 
guity as  it  respects  time.  When  any  two  events  oc- 
cur at  the  same  moment  of  time,  or  in  such  near  con- 
nection that  the  conception  of  one  remains  until  the 
other  occurs,  they  ordinarily  will  recur  together  in  our 
after  conceptions  of  them.  As  an  example  of  this 
may  be  mentioned  the  associations  of  a  family  who 
have  been  accustomed  to  close  each  Sabbath  with  mu- 
sic. As  the  still  hour  of  this  sacred  evening  drew  on, 
wherever  any  wanderer  might  roam,  it  is  probable  that 
the  notes  of  praise,  so  often  connected  with  this  sea- 
son, would  perpetually  steal  over  the  mind,  bringing 
many  another  image  of  friends,  and  kindred,  and  home. 

The  mind  of  man  is  so  constituted  that  no  change 
can  take  place  in  any  material  object  without  awaken- 
ing the  idea  of  some  cause.  An  effect  is  defined  as 
**  some  change  of  state  or  mode  of  existence  in  matter 
or  mind."  A  cause  is  defined  as  "  that  without  which 
no  change  would  take  place  in  matter  or  mind,  and 
with  which  it  will  take  place."  As  the  ideas  of  cause 
and  effect  are  so  constantly  conjoined  in  all  our  acts 
of  perception,  these  ideas  will  return  together  in  our 


100  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

conceptions.  Thus,  if  we  see  an  instrument  which 
has  been  the  cause  of  pain,  the  idea  of  this  effect  will 
be  recalled  by  a  conception  of  the  cause ;  or  if  the 
mind  is  dwelling  on  the  memory  of  some  beautiful 
painting  or  poetry,  the  author  of  these  works  will 
probably  recur  to  the  mind  in  connection  with  these 
conceptions. 

We  sometimes  meet  with  persons  of  such  peculiar 
habits  and  dispositions,  that,  whenever  they  are  en- 
countered, the  feelings  are  wounded  or  the  temper 
crossed  by  their  ill-timed  or  ill-natured  remarks.  The 
conceptions  of  such  persons  wiU  ordinarily  be  attended 
by  the  memory  of  some  pains  of  which  they  have  been 
the  cause,  and  the  mind  will  involuntarily  shrink  from 
contact  with  them,  as  from  the  points  and  thorns  of  a 
bramble-bush.  Those  events,  therefore,  or  those  ob- 
jects which  have  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect  exist- 
ing between  them,  will  ordinarily  be  united  as  objects 
of  conception. 

The  mind  of  man  is  continually  noticing  the  rela- 
tions which  exist  between  the  different  objects  of  its 
conceptions.  As  no  idea  of  relation  can  be  gained  with- 
out comparing  two  or  more  things  together,  those  ob- 
jects which  are  most  frequently  compared  will  natural- 
ly be  most  frequently  associated  together  in  our  concep- 
tions. It  has  been  shown  that  language  is  founded  on 
that  principle  of  the  mind  which  enables  us  to  notice 
certain  qualities  in  things  abstracted  from  other  qual- 
ities, and  to  apply  names  to  objects  according  as  we 
find  certain  qualities  united  in  them.  Of  course,  in  the 
use  of  language,  the  mind  is  continually  led  to  notice 
the  particulars  in  which  objects  resemble  each  other, 


ASSOCIATION.  101 

and  also  tlie  particulars  in  wliicli  they  differ ;  conse- 
quently the  mind,  in  learning  and  in  applying  names, 
is  continually  comparing  objects,  both  to  discover  the 
particulars  in  which  they  are  alike  and  those  in  which 
they  differ,  so  that  two  objects  are  thus  brought  to- 
gether before  the  mind. 

It  is  owing  to  this  fact,  therefore,  that  objects  which 
resemble  each  other,  or  which  are  very  much  contrast- 
ed in  their  qualities,  are  very  commonly  united  in  our 
conceptions.  K,  for  example,  we  see  the  countenance 
of  a  stranger,  some  feature  will  be  recognized  as  fa- 
miliar. Desire  will  be  awakened  to  know  where  and 
in  what  other  countenance  we  have  seen  such  a  feat- 
ure or  such  an  expression.  This  particular  feature 
will  thus  become  abstracted  and  vivid,  and  will  soon 
recall  that  other  combination  of  features  for  which  we 
are  seeking,  and  of  which  this  has  formed  a  part  in  our 
past  experience.  Thus  two  objects  will  be  brought 
before  the  mind  at  once,  the  person  who  is  the  stran- 
ger, and  a  conception  of  another  person  whom  this 
stranger  resembles. 

All  our  ideas  of  contrast  are  relative.  One  thing 
can  not  be  conceived  of  as  very  high  or  very  low,  as 
very  large  or  very  small,  without  a  previous  compar- 
ison with  some  object  to  determine  this  relation.  Our 
ideas  of  poverty  and  riches,  or  of  happiness  and  mis- 
ery, are  also  relative.  A  person  is  always  considered 
poor  or  rich,  happy  or  miserable,  by  comparing  his  lot 
with  that  of  others  by  whom  he  is  surrounded.  As, 
therefore,  all  ideas  of  resemblance  or  of  contrast  are 
gained  by  comparing  two  objects  together,  our  concep- 
tions often  unite  objects  that  resemble  each  other  or 
that  are  contrasted  with  each  other. 


102  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER  XIIL 

IMAGINATION. 

All  operations  of  mind  whicli  are  not  produced  Tby 
material  things  acting  upon  the  senses  consist  of  a 
continual  succession  of  conceptions.  Some  of  these 
conceptions  are  exact  pictures  of  past  perceptions,  and 
are  attended  by  the  consciousness  that  such  things 
have  existed  before,  and  such  are  called  ideas  of  mem- 
ory. Others  are  conceptions  which,  by  the  process  of 
association,  are  continually  recurring,  and  arranging 
themselves  in  new  combinations,  according  to  certain 
laws  or  principles  of  association.  Imagination  has 
been  defined  as  "  that  power  which  the  mind  possesses 
of  arranging  conceptions  in  new  combinations, "  and  it 
can  readily  be  seen  that  this  includes  all  the  ordinary 
successions  of  thought  except  those  of  perception  and 
memory.  The  term  imagination  has  been  used  in 
rather  a  vague  manner  by  writers  on  the  subject. 
Sometimes  it  is  used  to  signify  all  that  succession  of 
conceptions  which  recur  according  to  the  laws  of  asso- 
ciation, and  sometimes  it  is  used  in  a  more  restricted 
sense.  The  more  limited  meaning  is  the  one  to  which 
the  term  is  most  commonly  applied,  and  it  seems  to  be 
the  one  which  precision  and  accuracy  in  the  use  of 
terms  demand,  and  therefore  it  will  now  be  pointed 
out. 

The  mind  is  susceptible  of  certain  emotions,  which 
are  called  emotions  of  taste.    These,  more  specifically, 


IMAGINATION.  103 

are  called  emotions  of  beauty,  sublimity,  and  novelty. 
Such  emotions  are  awakened  by  certain  objects  in  na- 
ture, by  certain  works  of  art,  and  by  the  use  of  lan- 
guage which  recalls  conceptions  of  these  objects. 
Those  objects  which  awaken  such  emotions  are  called 
objects  of  taste,  and  those  arts  which  enable  us  to  pro- 
duce combinations  that  will  awaken  such  emotions  are 
called  the  Ji7ie  arts. 

Among  the  fine  arts  are  ordinarily  classed  painting, 
music,  sculpture,  architecture,  ornamental  gardening, 
and  poetry.  The  art  of  the  painter  consists  in  com- 
bining, according  to  certain  rules  of  proportion  and  fit- 
ness of  outline  and  color,  certain  objects,  which,  either 
from  their  peculiar  character,  or  from  the  fitness  of  their 
combination  in  effecting  a  given  design,  awaken  emo- 
tions of  beauty  or  sublimity.  The  highest  perfection 
of  this  art  consists  not  so  much  in  close  imitation  as 
in  the  nature  of  the  combinations,  and  their  unity  and 
fitness  in  producing  the  effect  designed  by  the  artist. 

The  art  of  the  sculptor  is  similar  in  its  nature,  and 
differs  chiefly  in  the  materials  employed,  and  in  being 
limited  to  a  much  more  restricted  number  of  objects 
for  combination. 

The  art  of  the  architect  consists  in  planning  and 
constructing  edifices,  intended  either  for  use  or  orna- 
ment, and  in  so  arranging  the  different  parts  as  to 
awaken  emotions  of  beauty  or  sublimity  from  the  dis- 
play of  utility,  fitness,  grandeur  of  extent,  or  order  of 
proportion. 

The  art  of  the  musician  consists  in  combining  sounds 
so  as  to  produce  such  melodies  or  harmonies  as  wiU 
awaken  varied  emotions  in  the  mind.     The  power  of 


104  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE    PEOPLE. 

this  art  over  the  human  mind  is  much  superior  to  that 
of  the  others  enumerated,  because  it  can  call  forth  both 
a  greater  variety  and  more  powerful  emotions. 

The  art  of  the  poet  consists  in  such  a  use  of  lan- 
guage as  will  recall  objects  of  beauty  or  sublimity  in 
combinations  that  are  pleasing  to  the  mind,  or  as  will, 
by  the  description  and  expression  of  varied  emotion  in 
other  minds,  awaken  similar  feelings  in  the  breast  of 
the  reader. 

The  art  of  ornamental  gardening  consists  in  such  an 
arrangement  of  the  varied  objects  which  compose  a 
landscape  as  will  awaken  emotions  of  beauty  from  a 
display  of  unity  of  design,  order,  fitness,  and  utility. 

The  term  imagination,  then,  in  its  most  frequent  use, 
signifies  those  new  combinations  of  conceptions  which 
will  aioaJcen  the  emotions  of  taste. 

The  painter  or  the  poet,  when  he  attempts  the  exer- 
cise of  his  art,  has  some  leading  desire  of  an  object  to 
be  secured.  Under,  the  influence  of  this  desire,  all 
those  conceptions,  recurring  by  the  principle  of  asso- 
ciation, which  appear  fitted  to  accomplish  this  object, 
immediately  become  vivid  and  distinct,  and  are  clear- 
ly retained  in  the  mind.  As  other  conceptions  suc- 
ceed, other  objects  are  found  which  will  forward  the 
general  design,  and  these  also  are  retained,  and  thus 
the  process  continues  till  the  object  aimed  at  is  accom- 
plished, and  by  the  pen  or  pencil  retained  in  durable 
characters. 

The  action  of  mind  to  which  the  term  imagina- 
tion is  thus  restricted  differs  in  no  respect  from  other 
acts  of  conception  when  the  mind  is  under  the  influ- 
ence of  desire,  except  in  the  nature  of  the  objects  of 


IMAGINATION.  105 

desire.  If  it  is  the  desire  of  the  mind  to  establish  a 
proposition  by  mathematical  reasoning,  the  mind  is  en- 
gaged in  the  same  process  of  conception  as  when  it  is 
engrossed  with  the  desire  to  form  some  combination  of 
taste.  In  both  cases  some  object  of  desire  stimulates 
the  mind,  and  whatever  conceptions  appear  fitted  to 
accomplish  this  object  immediately  become  vivid  and 
distinct. 

E2 


106  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER  XrV. 

JUDGMENT. 

The  term  judgment,  as  a  mental  faculty,  signifies 
*«  that  power  of  the  mind  bj  which  it  notices  relations.''^ 
It  is  often  used  to  signify  all  the  intellectual  powers, 
among  which  it  is  the  most  important  one.  Thus  we 
hear  it  said  that,  in  certain  cases,  the  feelings  and  the 
judgment  are  in  opposition,  or  that  the  heart  and  the 
judgment  are  not  in  agreement. 

It  is  also  used  often  to  signify  any  act  of  the  mind 
when  a  comparison  is  made  between  two  things,  or  be- 
tween the  truths  asserted  in  any  proposition  and  a  truth 
already  believed.  The  act  called  memory  is  a  con- 
ception attended  with  one  specific  act  of  judgment,  by 
which  a  present  state  of  mind  is  compared  with  a  past, 
and  the  relation  of  resemblance  perceived. 

The  nature  of  our  ideas  of  relation  are  very  different, 
according  to  the  object  or  purpose  for  which  the  com- 
parison is  made.  If  objects  are  compared  in  reference 
to  time,  we  learn  some  one  of  the  relations  of  past, 
present,  or  future.  No  idea  of  time  can  be  gained  ex- 
cept by  comparing  one  period  of  time  with  another, 
and  thus  noticing  their  relations.  All  dates  are  gain- 
ed by  comparing  one  point  of  time  with  some  specified 
event,  such  as  the  birth  of  the  Savior,  or  some  partic- 
ular period  in  the  revolution  of  the  earth  around  the 
sun. 

If  objects  are  compared  in  reference  to  the  succession 


JUDGMENT.  107 

of  our  conceptions  or  perceptions,  we  gain  the  ideas  of 
such  relations  as  are  expressed  by  the  terms  Jirstl?/, 
secondly/,  and  thirdly.  If  objects  are  compared  in 
reference  to  the  degree  of  any  quality,  we  gain  an  idea 
of  such  relations  as  are  expressed  by  the  terms  bright- 
er^ sweeter^  harder^  louder.  If  objects  are  compared  in 
reference  to  projportion,  we  gain  ideas  of  such  relations 
as  are  expressed  by  the  terms  an  eighth,  a  half.  If 
objects  are  compared  in  reference  to  the  relation  of 
parts  to  a  whole,  we  gain  such  ideas  as  are  expressed 
by  the  iexms  part,  whole,  remainder. 

The  process  of  classifying  objects  and  the  use  of 
language  depend  upon  the  power  of  judgment;  for  if 
we  see  an  object  possessing  certain  qualities,  in  order 
to  apply  the  name  we  must  compare  and  observe  their 
resemblance  to  the  qualities  to  wliich  such  a  name  has 
been  applied  in  past  experience,  and  this  feeling  of  re- 
semblance is  an  act  of  judgment.  The  application  of 
a  name,  then,  always  implies  the  exercise  of  the  power 
of  judgment,  by  which  a  comparison  is  made  between 
the  present  qualities  observed  in  an  object  and  the 
same  qualities  which  affected  the  mind  when  the  name 
has  formerly  been  employed.  It  also  implies  the  act 
of  association,  by  which  the  perception  of  certain  qual- 
ities recalls  the  idea  of  the  sound  or  object  with  which 
they  have  been  repeatedly  conjoined. 

The  mental  process  called  reasoning  is  nothing  but 
a  connected  succession  of  acts  of  judgment.  It  is  a 
comparison  of  what  is  asserted  in  a  given  proposition 
with  some  truth  wliich  is  believed,  or  which  has  been 
established  by  evidence,  and  then  observing  the  agree- 
ment or  disagreement.     Thus  the  truth  that  "things 


108  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

will  be  in  agreement  with  past  experience  unless  there 
is  some  reason  for  the  contrary,"  is  a  tmth  which  ev- 
ery mind  believes.  Whenever,  therefore,  any  event 
has  been  repeatedly  an  object  of  past  experience,  it  is 
compared  with  this  truth  already  believed,  and  found 
to  be  included  under  it,  and  therefore  entitled  to  the 
same  credit. 

Thus,  also,  the  truth  that  "things  which  equal  the 
same  thing  equal  one  another,"  is  one  which  every 
mind  believes.  When  any  object  by  examination  is 
found  to  be  included  under  that  class  of  objects  which 
are  thus  equal  to  the  same  thing,  it  is  an  act  of  rea- 
soning when  we  infer  that  they  are  equal  to  one  an- 
other. 


THE   SUSCEPTIBILITIES.  109 


CHAPTER  XY. 

THE   SUSCEPTIBILITIES. 

HAvma  examined  the  intellectual  powers,  we  will 
now  attend  to  the  next  general  class,  denominated  the 
suscep  tibilities. 

When  the  mind  is  in  a  state  of  emotion,  this  state  is 
always  either  pleasurable  or  painful.  Desire  relates 
to  the  attainment  of  some  object  which  will  be  the 
cause  of  pleasurable  emotions,  or  else  to  the  avoidance 
of  something  which  will  cause  painful  emotions.  This 
desire  for  pleasure  and  for  the  avoidance  of  pain  is 
the  mainspring  of  all  mental  activity ;  for  when  it  is 
not  in  existence,  neither  the  powers  of  the  mind  or  of 
the  body  are  called  into  exercise. 

There  are  various  sources  of  enjoyment  or  causes 
of  pleasurable  emotion  to  the  mind  of  man,  the  most 
important  of  which  will  now  be  pointed  out. 

Th^Jii'st  cause  of  enjoyment  at  the  commencement 
of  existence  is  that  of  sensation.*  This,  at  first,  is 
small  in  amount  compared  with  what  it  becomes  when 
association  lends  its  aid  to  heighten  sensitive  enjoy- 
ment. The  light  of  day,  the  brilliancy  of  color,  the 
sweetness  of  perfume,  the  gratification  of  taste  and 
touch,  the  magic  influence  of  sound,  and  the  pleasure 
resulting  from   muscular   activity,  are  probably  the 

*  Hereafter  the  terms  sensation  and  perception  will  often  be  used 
synonymously  in  cases  where  it  is  not  needful  to  recognize  the  dis- 
tinction heretofore  indicated. 


110  THE    BIBLE   AND   THE    PEOPLE. 

chief  sources  of  enjoyment  to  the  infant  mind.  As 
life  advances,  all  these  modes  of  sensitive  gratification 
become  connected  with  others  of  an  intellectual  and 
moral  nature,  so  that  at  mature  years  it  is  difficult  to 
determine  how  much  of  the  enjoyment  we  derive  from 
the  senses  is  the  result  of  association,  and  how  much 
is  simply  that  of  sensation. 

Another  source  of  happiness  to  the  human  mind  is 
the  simple  exercise  of  its  intellectual  powers.  This 
includes  all  the  pleasures  derived  from  the  exercise  of 
taste  and  the  imagination ;  all  the  more  profitless  ex- 
ercises of  reverie  and  castle-building;  all  the  activ- 
ity of  mind  employed  in  contriving,  inventing,  and 
bringing  to  pass  the  various  projects  for  securing  good 
to  ourselves  and  others;  and  all  those  charming  illu- 
sions which  so  often  give  transient  delight,  but  burst 
like  bubbles  in  the  grasp. 

Another  source  of  enjoyment  is  the  exercise  of  phys- 
ical and  moral  power.  This  love  of  power  is  one  of 
the  earliest  principles  which  is  developed  in  the  hu- 
man mind.  The  exercise  of  the  muscles  in  producing 
changes  in  its  own  material  frame  or  in  surrounding 
objects  is  a  source  of  constant  pleasure  to  the  infant 
mind.  There  are  few  who  have  reared  a  child  through 
the  period  of  infancy  but  can  recollect  the  times  that 
this  new  species  of  delight  was  manifested,  as,  with 
his  hand  raised  before  his  eyes,  he  watched  its  various 
motions,  and  learned  his  own  power  to  control  them. 

This  love  of  power  continually  displays  itself  in  the 
sports  and  pursuits  of  childliood.  To  project  the  peb- 
ble through  the  air ;  to  drive  the  hoop ;  to  turn  the 
windwill ;  to  conduct  some  light  stream  from  its  chan- 


THE   SUSCEPTIBILITIES.  Ill 

nel ;  to  roll  the  rock  from  the  mountain  cliff — these 
and  many  others  are  the  varied  modes  by  which  child- 
hood exhibits  its  love  of  physical  power. 

But  when  man  begins  to  learn  the  influence  which 
mind  can  exert  over  mind,  a  new  desire  is  awakened 
of  moral  power.  All  the  different  modes  are  then 
sought  by  w^hich  one  mind  can  bend  the  will  of  others 
to  yield  to  its  controlling  influence.  It  is  this  desire 
which  is  gratified  when  the  conqueror  of  nations  be- 
holds millions  of  minds  yielding  to  the  slightest  word 
of  his  command.  It  is  this  which  inspires  the  orator, 
as  he  pours  forth  that  eloquence  which  charms  the  de- 
lighted throng,  and  bends  them  to  his  wiU.  It  is  this 
desire,  which  often  becomes  the  master  passion,  to  which 
is  sacrificed  all  that  is  just,  lovely,  and  benevolent. 

Another  cause  of  enjoyment  is  that  of  sympathy  in 
the  happiness  of  others.  This  susceptibility  is  a 
Bource  of  constant  enjoyment  when  those  around  us 
are  contented  and  happy.  None  can  be  ignorant  of 
the  change  produced  in  passing  from  the  society  of  a 
sprightly,  cheerful,  and  happy  group  to  a  circle  soured 
by  discontent  or  overwhelmed  with  melancholy.  In 
early  childhood,  the  effect  of  this  principle  is  clearly 
developed.  Even  the  infant  child  is  aftected  and  dis- 
turbed with  flowing  tears,  and  steals  away  from  the 
chamber  of  sorrow,  w^hile  the  sight  of  smiling  faces 
and  the  sound  of  cheerful  voices  sends  through  his 
heart  the  glow  of  delight. 

Another  source  of  enjoyment  is  a  feeling  of  conscious 
rectitude.  Man  is  so  constituted  that,  when  he  know- 
ingly violates  the  principles  of  rectitude,  a  painful  feel- 
ing is  the  inevitable   consequence,  while  a  habit  of 


112  THE  BIBLE  AND   THE  PEOPLE. 

constant  conformity  to  them  brings  a  peaceful  and 
happy  state  of  mind. 

Another  source  of  happiness  is  the  consciousness  of 
being  the  cause  of  happiness  to  others.  This  is  an 
enjoyment  entu"ely  distinct  from  that  of  sympathy  in 
the  happiness  of  others ;  for  we  may  see  happiness 
conferred  by  another  and  rejoice  in  it,  but  the  pleasure 
of  being  ourselves  the  cause  of  this  enjoyment  is  one 
altogether  peculiar.  It  can  readily  be  seen  that  the 
more  benevolent  a  mind  is,  the  more  happiness  it  will 
derive  from  this  source ;  while  in  exact  proportion  as 
the  mind  is  selfishly  engrossed  by  its  own  exclusive 
interests  will  this  stream  of  enjoyment  cease  to  flow. 

Another  source  of  happiness  is  the  consciousness  of 
inspiring  certain  emotions  in  other  minds,  such  as  es- 
teem, respect,  confidence,  love,  gratitude,  reverence, 
and  the  Kke.  The  desire  for  this  is  one  of  the  stron- 
gest passions,  and  its  gratification  often  secures  the 
most  exquisite  enjoyment.  This. happiness,  ordinarily, 
is  proportioned  to  the  nobleness  of  the  person  who  ren- 
ders this  regard. 

Another  source  of  enjoyment  is  the  discovery  of 
certain  qualities  in  intelligent  minds.  The  perception 
of  the  qualities  of  matter  through  the  medium  of  the 
senses  is  a  very  inferior  source  of  gratification  com- 
pared with  the  discovery  of  certain  qualities  of  mind. 
This  is  the  source  of  the  highest  enjoyment  of  which 
the  mind  is  capable.  The  emotions  thus  awakened 
are  called  esteem,  veneration,  love,  gratitude,  and  the 
Hke.  Love^  in  its  most  general  sense,  is  used  for  the 
pleasurable  emotion  which  is  felt  in  the  discovery  of 
any  quality  that  is  agreeable,  either  in  matter  or  mind. 


THE  SUSCEPTIBILITIES.  113 

Thus  we  are  said  to  love  the  beauties  of  nature,  to  love 
delicious  fruit,  and  to  love  the  society  of  friends.  But 
in  relation  to  intelligent  beings,  it  signifies  pleasurable 
emotion  in  view  of  certain  qualities  and  actions,  at- 
tended with  the  desire  of  good  to  the  object  loved,  and 
also  a  desire  for  reciprocated  affection.  There  are  cer- 
tain qualities  and  attributes  of  mind  which  may  be 
pointed  out  as  the  causes  of  affection. 

The  first  is  intellectual  superiority.  Our  estimate 
of  intellect  is  altogether  relative.  What  in  a  child 
seems  an  astonishing  display  of  it,  would  be  consid- 
ered puerility  in  a  man.  What  excites  admiration  in 
a  savage  or  in  the  unlettered,  is  regarded  with  little 
emotion  in  the  man  of  education.  There  are  various 
qualities  of  intellect  which  awaken  admiration.  Quick 
perceptions  and  ready  invention  are  the  peculiar  attri- 
bute of  some  minds ;  others  are  endowed  with  great 
sagacity  and  wisdom  in  adapting  the  best  means  to  ac- 
complish the  best  ends ;  others  possess  an  energy  and 
force  of  purpose  which  enables  them  to  encounter  dif- 
ficulties, sustain  bodily  fatigue,  and  even  to  face  death 
without  shrinking ;  others  possess  a  power  of  forming 
new  and  varied  combinations  that  gratify  the  taste ; 
others  seem  to  possess  a  readiness  and  versatility  of 
mind  which  enables  them  to  succeed  in  almost  any  ob- 
ject they  undertake.  The  exhibition  of  any  of  these 
operations  of  intellect  are  causes  of  emotions  of  pleas- 
ure to  other  minds. 

The  next  quality  of  mind  which  is  a  cause  of  affec- 
tion is  the  power  ot  syinjjathy.  There  is  nothing 
which  so  powerfully  draws  the  mind  toward  another 
being  as  the  assurance  that  all  our  pleasures  will  be 


114  THE   BIBLE   AXD   THE    PEOPLE. 

his,  and  that  "in  all  our  afflictions  he  Trill  be  afflict- 
ed." It  is  probable  that  a  being  entirely  destitute  of 
this  susceptibility,  however  he  might  excite  the  mind 
by  displays  of  intellectual  power,  never  could  be  re- 
garded with  the  warm  and  tender  emotions  of  affection. 
If  we  encountered  a  mind  that  we  felt  looked  upon  our 
happiness  without  one  glimmering  of  pleasure,  and 
who  could  gaze  upon  our  sufferings  without  one  shade 
of  sympathizing  woe,  it  is  probable  the  mind  would 
turn  away  witli  feelings  of  dissatisfaction  or  disgust. 

Another  quality  of  mind  which  becomes  a  cause  of 
love  is  the  power  oi  giving  and  appreciating  affection. 
There  is  nothing  which  is  an  object  of  more  constant 
and  fervent  desire  than  the  admiration  and  affection  of 
other  minds.  To  be  an  object  of  attention  and  of  ad- 
miration to  others  has  been  the  aim  that  has  stimu- 
lated the  efforts  and  nerved  the  arm  of  all  the  heroes 
and  conquerors  of  the  world.  To  gain  the  esteem  and 
affection  of  other  minds  is  what  regulates  the  actions, 
the  plans,  and  the  hopes  of  all  mankind.  If,  therefore, 
a  mind  should  be  destitute  of  this  susceptibility,  that 
which  gives  the  chief  interest  would  be  withdrawn. 
If  we  should  find,  also,  that  the  gift  of  our  affections 
was  of  no  value  to  another  mind,  this  would  deprive  it 
of  much  that  awakens  interest  and  pleasure.  It  is  the 
excessive  indulgence  of  this  desire  for  admiration 
which  leads  to  ambition  and  pride — those  principles 
which  have  filled  the  world  with  contention  and  del- 
uged it  with  blood. 

Another  quality  of  mind  which  secures  affection  is 
henevolence.  This  consists  in  such  a  love  for  the  hap- 
piness as  induces  a  •willingness  to  make  sacrifices  of 


THE  SUSCEPTIBILITIES.  115 

personal  ease  or  enjoyment  to  secure  a  greater  amount 
of  good  to  others.  Every  mind  is  so  made  that,  if  its 
own  wishes  are  not  interfered  with,  it  is  more  agreea- 
ble to  see  others  happy  around  than  to  see  them  mis- 
erable. There  have  been  cases  of  such  perversion  of 
our  nature  that  some  have  seemed  to  find  pleasure  in 
the  simple  act  of  inflicting  pain  upon  others ;  but  this 
seldom  occurs  until  after  a  long  course  of  self-indul- 
gence and  crime.  All  persons,  if  it  cost  no  sacrifice, 
would  prefer  to  make  others  happy. 

But  there  is  a  great  difference  in  the  character  of 
minds  in  this  particular.  Some,  when  they  find  that 
certain  modes  of  personal  enjoyment  interfere  with  the 
interests  and  happiness  of  others,  can  find  a  pleasure 
in  sacrificing  their  own  lesser  enjoyment  to  secure 
greater  good  for  others.  But  others  are  so  engrossed 
by  exclusive  interest  in  their  own  happiness  that  they 
will  not  give  up  the  smallest  amount  of  their  own  good 
to  secure  any  amount  of  benefit  to  others. 

All  minds,  whatever  their  own  character  may  be,  de- 
test selfishness  in  others,  and  never  can  bestow  any 
great  affection  where  this  is  a  prevailing  trait. 

These  are  the  leading  characteristics  of  mind  which 
are  causes  of  admiration  and  affection.  There  are  oth- 
er more  specific  exercises,  such  as  modesty,  humility, 
meekness,  and  the  like. 

But  all  these  traits  of  character,  which,  in  themselves 
considered,  are  causes  of  pleasure,  in  certain  circum- 
stances may,  to  a  selfish  mind,  become  causes  of  un- 
mingled  pain.  If  the  displays  of  intellect  or  the  ex- 
hibition of  the  amiable  susceptibilities  in  another  be- 
ing are  viewed  by  a  selfish  mind  as  the  cause  of  dis- 


116  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

paragement  and  disadvantageous  contrast  to  itself,  they 
will  be  regarded  only  with  painful  emotions.  They 
will  awaken  "  envy,  anger,  wrath,  malice,  and  all  un- 
charitableness."  This  fact  is  fully  illustrated  in  the 
history  of  the  world  and  in  the  daily  observation  of 
life. 

The  causes  ofj^ctin  to  the  human  mind  are  in  most 
cases  owing  to  these  very  susceptibilities  of  enjoyment. 
The  organization  of  the  material  frame  and  of  the  ex- 
ternal world,  while  it  is  a  source  of  multiplied  and  con- 
stant enjoyment,  is  often  also  the  cause  of  the  most  in- 
tense and  exquisite  suffering.  The  strongest  concep- 
tion of  suffering  of  v/hich  mind  can  form  any  concep- 
tion is  sensitive  suffering.  There  are  many  minds 
whose  constitution  and  circumstances  are  such  that 
they  can  form  but  faint  conceptions  of  any  pain  which 
results  from  the  exercise  of  malignant  passions,  or 
from  other  sources  of  suffering.  But  every  mind  soon 
acquires  a  knowledge  of  what  sensitive  suffering  must 
be,  and  can  form  the  most  vivid  conceptions  of  it. 
Though  few  ever  suffered  the  dislocation  of  joints,  the 
laceration  of  the  flesh,  or  the  fracture  of  bones,  still 
descriptions  of  such  sufferings  are  readily  apprehended 
and  conceived  of,  and  there  is  nothing  from  which  the 
mind  so  involuntarily  shrinks. 

Another  cause  of  suffering  consists  in  the  loss  of 
present  or  expected  enjoyment.  There  are  many  bless- 
ings which  seem  desirable  to  the  mind  that  are  never 
secured,  and  yet  unhappiness  is  not  caused  by  the 
want ;  but  there  is  no  happiness  which  is  actually  in 
possession  of  which  the  loss  does  not  occasion  pain. 
We  may  desire  the  esteem  and  affection  of  certain  be- 


THE   SUSCEPTIBILITIES.  117 

irigs,  and  yet  not  become  unhappy  from  the  want  of  it ; 
yet  nothing  sends  such  exquisite  suffering  through 
the  mind  as  the  conviction  that  some  beloved  object 
has  ceased  thus  to  respect  and  to  love,  or  has  been 
taken  from  us  by  death.  Thus,  also,  if  wealth,  which 
is  the  means  of  purchasing  a  variety  of  blessings,  be 
not  secured,  the  heart  can  desire  it  without  being  made 
unhappy  by  the  wish,  yet  the  loss  of  wealth  is  attend- 
ed with  painful  disappointment  and  regret.  The  pos- 
session of  power,  also,  may  be  desired  without  uneasi- 
ness, but  the  loss  of  it  seldom  occurs  without  painful 
emotions. 

Another  cause  of  suffering  is  inactivity  of  body  and 
mind.  It  has  been  shown  that  desire  is  the  spring 
both  of  mental  and  of  physical  activity,  and  that  this 
activity  is  one  source  of  enjoyment.  The  loss  of  this 
species  of  enjoyment  is  followed  by  consequent  inqui- 
etude and  uneasiness. 

Another  cause  of  suffering  is  the  existence  of  strong 
desire  with  the  belief  that  it  never  can  be  gratified. 
Some  desires  exist  in  the  mind  without  causing  pain, 
but  they  may  be  excited  to  such  a  degree  that  the  cer- 
tainty that  they  never  will  be  gratified  may  produce 
anguish  almost  intolerable. 

Another  source  of  pain  is  sympathy  in  the  sufferings 
of  others.  These  may  be  so  realized  as  to  affect  the 
mind  of  the  observer  with  even  more  pain  than  the 
sufferer  experiences.  It  is  probable  that  the  tender 
mother,  in  witnessing  the  distresses  of  her  child,  ex- 
periences much  more  pain  than  the  object  of  her  sym- 
pathies. 

Another  cause  of  suffering  is  the  violated  sense  of 


118  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

justice.  In  minds  of  high  moral  susceptibiHties,  suf- 
fering from  this  source  may  be  most  exquisite. 

Another  cause  of  suffering  is  the  consciousness  of 
guilt.  The  emotions  that  follow  the  commission  of 
crime  are  denominated  repentance  and  remorse  ;  and  it 
is  probable  that  the  human  mind  has  never  suffered 
greater  agonies  than  have  attended  the  existence  of 
these  emotions.  There  are  cases  on  record  when  in- 
tense bodily  suffering  has  been  resorted  to  as  a  relief 
from  such  anguish  by  withdrawing  the  attention  of 
the  mind  from  those  subjects  that  call  forth  such  emo- 
tions. 

Another  cause  of  pain  is  the  apprehension  of  future 
evil.  This  is  often  a  source  of  long-continued  and  of 
distressing  emotions,  and  the  pain  suffered  in  appre- 
hension is  often  greater  than  would  be  experienced  if 
the  evils  were  realized. 

Another  source  of  suffering  is  the  exercise  of  malig- 
nant passions,  such  as  hatred,  envy,  and  jealousy. 
These  emotions  never  can  exist  in  the  mind  without 
pain.  The  exhibition  of  wicked  passions  and  actions 
in  other  minds  may  also  be  mentioned  in  connection 
with  this.  It  is  painful  to  behold  a  mind  tossed  with 
the  furies  of  ungoverned  passion,  or  yielding  to  the 
chain  of  selfishness  and  pride. 

Another  source  of  suffering  is  the  consciousness  of 
the  existence  of  certain  emotions  in  other  minds  to- 
ward ourselves.  The  belief  that  other  intelligent  be- 
ings look  upon  our  character  and  conduct  with  dis- 
pleasure, indignation,  or  contempt,  inflicts  the  keenest 
suffering,  and  there  is  scarcely  any  thing  mankind  will 
not  sacrifice  to  avoid  these  painful  emotions. 


THE   SUSCEPTIBILITIES.  119 

Another  source  of  painful  emotions  is  the  view  of 
certain  characteristics  in  other  minds.  While  the  dis- 
covery of  certain  traits  in  other  minds  aiford  a  high 
enjoyment,  the  want  of  them,  or  the  existence  of  their 
opposite,  awaken  disagreeable  emotions,  expressed  by 
the  terms  pity,  contempt,  indignation,  disgust,  abhor- 
rence, and  the  like. 

There  are  other  sources  of  pleasure  and  pain,  which 
will  be  discussed  more  at  large  in  succeeding  chapters. 


120       THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER  XYI. 

THE  SUSCEPTIBILITIES.      EMOTIONS   OF   TASTE. 

Among  the  susceptibilities,  the  emotions  of  taste 
have  alvvays  been  distinguished,  and  treated  of  as  a 
peculiarly  distinct  class.  Why  is  it  that  certain  ob- 
jects of  sight,  and  certain  sounds  or  combinations  of 
sound,  awaken  emotions  more  than  other  sights  and 
sounds  ?  Why  do  the  perceptions  of  the  eye  and  ear 
so  much  more  powerfully  affect  the  mind  than  those 
of  the  other  senses  ?  These  certainly  are  objects  for 
interesting  inquiry.  In  attempting  the  discussion  of 
this  subject,  the  following  particulars  need  to  be  con- 
sidered. 

All  pleasurable  emotions  are  caused  either  }:)y  per- 
ceptio?i  or  conception^  for  we  have  no  other  ideas  but 
of  these  two  kinds.  That  they  are  not  occasioned  by 
perception  alone  must  be  evident  from  the  fact  that  in- 
fants and  children,  who  have  the  same  perceptions  as 
matured  persons,  do  not  experience  the  emotions  of 
taste  in  view  of  the  most  perfect  specimens  of  the  fine 
arts.  A  combination  of  gaudy  colors  or  a  string  of 
glittering  beads  will  delight  a  child  more  than  the  most 
finished  productions  of  a  Raphael  or  a  Phidias.  That 
it  is  not  conception  alone  which  awakens  such  emotions 
is  manifest  from  the  fact  that  it  is  the  perce2ytion  of 
objects  which  are  either  sublime  or  beautiful  that  awak- 
ens the  most  vi\-id  emotions  of  this  kind.  Of  course, 
it  is  inevitable  that  emotions  of  taste  are  caused  by  per- 


THE   SUSCEPTIBILITIES — EMOTIONS   OF   TASTE.    121 

ception  and  conception  through  their  connection  with 
some  past  co-existing  emotions. 

Perceptions  and  conceptions  can  recall  the  emotions 
which  have  been  connected  with  them,  and  emotions 
can  also  recall  a  conception  of  the  objects  with  which 
they  have  been  united.  For  example,  if  some  dark 
wood  had  been  the  scene  of  terror  and  affright,  either 
the  perception  or  the  conception  of  this  wood  would 
recall  the  emotions  of  fear  which  had  coexisted  with 
it.  If,  on  some  other  occasion,  a  strong  emotion  of 
fear  should  be  awakened,  this  would  probably  recall  a 
conception  of  the  wood  with  which  it  had  formerly  been 
united.  It  is  no  uncommon  fact  in  our  experience  to 
have  circumstances  about  us  that  recall  unusually  sad 
and  mournful  feelings,  for  which  we  are  wholly  unable 
to  account.  No  doubt,  at  such  times,  some  particular 
objects,  or  some  particular  combination  of  circumstances 
which  were  formerly  united  with  painful  emotions, 
again  recur,  and  recall  the  emotions  with  which  they 
were  once  connected,  while  the  mind  is  wholly  unable 
to  remember  the  fact  of  their  past  coexistence.  In 
like  manner,  pleasurable  emotions  may  be  awakened 
by  certain  objects  of  perception  when  the  mind  is  equal- 
ly unable  to  trace  the  cause. 

Objects  oi jpercejption  recall  the  emotions  connected 
with  them  much  more  vividly  than  objects  of  concep- 
tion can  do.  Thus,  if  we  revisit  the  scenes  of  our 
childhood,  the  places  of  the  sorrows  and  the  joys  of 
early  days,  how  much  more  vividly  are  the  emotions 
recalled  which  were  formerly  connected  with  these 
scenes  than  any  conception  of  these  objects  could 
awaken. 

F 


122  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

Certain  perceptions  will  be  found  to  produce  emo- 
tions similar  to  those  awakened  by  the  intellectual  op- 
erations of  mind.  Thus  the  entrance  of  light  pro- 
duces an  emotion  similar  to  the  discovery  of  some 
truth,  and  the  emotion  felt  while  in  a  state  of  doubt 
and  uncertainty  resembles  that  experienced  when 
shrouded  in  darkness.  Great  care  and  anxiety  pro- 
duce a  state  of  mind  similar  to  what  is  felt  when  the 
body  is  pressed  down  by  a  heavy  weight.  The  up- 
ward spring  of  an  elastic  body  awakens  feelings  re- 
sembling those  that  attend  the  hearing  of  good  news, 
and  thus  with  many  other  perceptions.  From  this 
fact  originates  much  of  the  figurative  language  in  com- 
mon use  ;  such  as  when  knowledge  is  called  light,  and 
ignorance  darkness,  and  care  is  called  a  load,  and  joy 
is  said  to  make  the  heart  leap. 

It  has  previously  been  shown  that  the  discovery  of 
certain  operations  and  emotions  of  mind  affords  much 
more  pleasure  than  attends  mere  perceptions  of  mate- 
rial objects.  Those  who  have  experienced  the  excit- 
ing animation  felt  at  developments  of  splendid  genius, 
and  the  pure  delight  resulting  from  the  interchange  of 
affection,  can  well  realize  that  no  sensitive  gratification 
could  ever  be  exchanged  for  them.  Whatever  objects, 
therefore,  most  vividly  recall  those  emotions  which  are 
awakened  when  such  qualities  are  apprehended  will  be 
most  interesting  to  the  mind. 

Now  it  will  appear  that  there  are  no  modes  by  which 
one  mind  can  learn  the  character  and  feelings  of  an- 
other but  by  means  of  the  eye  and  ear.  A  person  both 
deaf  and  blind  could  never,  except  to  an  exceedingly 
limited  extent,  learn  either  the  intellectual  operations 


THE   SUSCEPTIBILITIES — EMOTIONS   OF  TASTE.   123 

or  the  emotions  of  another  mind.  Of  course,  it  is  by 
means  of  certain  forms,  colors,  motions,  and  sounds 
that  we  gain  those  ideas  which  are  most  interesting 
and  animating  to  the  soul.  It  is  by  the  blush  of  mod- 
esty, the  paleness  of  fear,  the  flush  of  indignation,  that 
color  aids  in  giving  an  idea  of  the  emotions  of  the 
mind.  The  pallid  hue  of  disease,  the  sallow  com- 
plexion of  age,  the  pure  and  bright  colors  of  childhood, 
and  the  delicate  blendings  of  the  youthful  complexion, 
have  much  influence  in  conveying  ideas  of  the  qualities 
of  mind  in  certain  particulars.  The  color  and  flashing 
expressions  of  the  eye  also  have  much  to  do  with  our 
apprehensions  of  the  workings  of  mind. 

As  it  regards  raotion  as  aiding  in  imparting  such 
ideas,  it  is  by  the  curl  of  the  lip  that  contempt  is  ex- 
pressed, by  the  arching  brow  that  curiosity  and  sur- 
prise are  exhibited,  by  the  scowling  front  that  anger 
and  discontent  are  displayed,  and  by  various  muscular 
movements  of  the  countenance  that  the  passions  and 
emotions  of  the  mind  are  portrayed.  It  is  by  the  mo- 
tions of  the  body  and  limbs  also  that  strong  emotions 
are  exhibited,  as  in  the  clasped  hand  of  supplication, 
the  extended  arms  of  afiection,  and  the  violent  contor- 
tions of  anger. 

Form  and  outline  also  have  their  influence.  The 
sunken  eye  of  grief,  the  hollow  cheek  of  care  and  want, 
the  bending  form  of  sorrow,  the  erect  position  of  dig- 
nity, the  curvature  of  haughtiness  and  pride,  are  va- 
rious modes  of  expressing  the  qualities  and  emotions 
of  mind. 

But  it  is  by  the  varied  sounds  of  voice  chiefly  that 
intellect  glances  abroad,  and  the  soul  is  poured  forth  at 


124  THE   BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

the  lips.  The  quick  and  animated  sounds  of  cheer- 
fulness, joy,  and  hope ;  the  softer  tones  of  meekness, 
gentleness,  and  love ;  the  plaintive  notes  of  sympathy, 
sorrow,  and  pain  ;  the  firm  tone  of  magnanimity,  for- 
titude, patience,  and  self-denial,  all  exhibit  the  pleas- 
ing and  interesting  emotions  of  the  soul.  Nor  less 
expressive,  thougli  more  painful,  are  the  harsh  sounds 
of  anger,  malice,  envy,  and  discontent. 

Not  only  are  certain  forms,  colors,  motions,  and 
sounds  the  medium  by  which  we  gain  a  knowledge  of 
the  intellectual  operations  and  emotions  of  other  minds, 
but  they  are  the  means  by  which  we  discover  and  des- 
ignate those  material  objects  which  are  causes^  of  com- 
fort, utiHty,  and  enjoyment.  Thus  it  is  by  the  partic- 
ular form  and  color  that  we  distinguish  the  fruits  and 
the  food  which  minister  to  our  support.  By  the  same 
means  we  discriminate  between  noxious  and  useful 
plants  and  animals,  and  distinguish  all  those  conven- 
iences and  contrivances  which  contribute  to  the  com- 
fort of  man.  Of  course,  certain  forms  and  colors  are 
connected  in  the  mind  with  certain  emotions  of  pleas- 
ure that  have  attended  them  as  causes  of  comfort  and 
enjoyment. 

In  what  precedes,  it  appears  that  it  is  those  emo- 
tions which  are  awakened  by  the  apprehension  of  cer- 
tain intellectual  operations  and  emotions  of  intelligent 
minds. which  are  most  delightful;  that  all  our  ideas 
of  such  operations  and  emotions  are  gained  by  means 
of  certain  forms,  colors,  motions,  and  sounds  ;  that  we 
designate  objects  of  convenience  and  enjoyment  to  our- 
selves by  the  same  mode ;  that  perceptions  can  recall 
the  emotions  which  have  been  connected  with  thera, 


THE   SUSCEPTIBILITIES — EMOTIONS   OF   TASTE.  125 

even  after  the  mind  has  forgotten  the  connection,  and 
that  perceptions  recall  associated  emotions  much  more 
vividly  than  conceptions. 

In  consequence  of  these  considerations,  the  infer- 
ence seems  justifiable  that  the  emotions  of  beauty  and 
sublimity  are  not  owing  either  simply  to  the  percep- 
tions produced,  nor  to  the  conceptions  recalled  by  the 
principle  of  association.  But  they  are  accounted  for  in 
a  great  degree  by  the  fact  that  certain  colors,  forms, 
motions,  and  sounds  have  been  so  often  connected 
with  emotions  awakened  by  the  apprehension  of  qual- 
ities in  other  minds,  or  of  emotions  which  arise  in  view 
of  causes  of  enjoyment  to  ourselves,  that  the  percep- 
tion of  these  colors,  sounds,  forms,  and  motions  recall 
such  agreeable  emotions,  even  when  the  mind  can  not 
trace  the  connection  in  past  experience. 

As  an  example  of  this,  the  emotion  of  pleasure  has 
been  so  often  connected  with  the  clear  blue  of  the  sky 
and  with  the  bright  verdure  of  the  foliage,  that  the 
sight  of  either  of  these  colors  recalls  the  emotions, 
though  we  may  not  be  able  to  refer  to  any  particular 
time  when  this  previous  connection  existed.  In  like 
manner,  the  moaning  sound  of  the  wind  in  a  storm,  or 
the  harsh  growl  which  sometimes  attends  it,  has  so 
often  been  united  with  sorrowful  or  disagreeable  emo- 
tions, that  the  sounds  recall  the  emotions. 

But  there  is  another  important  fact  in  regard  to  the 
causes  of  the  emotions  of  taste.  It  is  found  that  the 
character  of  the  combination  of  sounds,  forms,  colors, 
and  motions  has  as  much  to  do  with  the  existence 
of  such  feelings  as  the  nature  of  these  objects  of  per- 
ception.    The  very  same  colors  and  forms,  in  certain 


126  THE  BIBLE  AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

combination,  are  very  displeasing,  when  in  others  thej 
are  beautiful.  Tims,  also,  certain  motions  in  certain 
circumstances  are  very  beautiful  or  sublime,  and  in 
others  very  displeasing.  The  very  same  sounds,  also, 
may  be  made  either  very  disagreeable  or  very  delight- 
ful, according  to  their  combination. 

To  account  for  this,  it  is  necessary  to  understand 
that  objects  which  tend  to  awaken  emotions  of  a  di- 
rectly opposite  nature  can  not  both  operate  on  the  mind 
without  causing  disagreeable  feelings.  If  we  are  sur- 
rounded by  objects  of  awe  and  solemnity,  it  is  painful 
to  notice  objects  that  are  mean  or  ludicrous.  If  we  are 
under  the  influence  of  sprightly  and  humorous  feelings, 
it  is  painful  to  encounter  solemn  and  pensive  scenes, 
with  which,  perhaps,  at  other  times,  we  should  be 
pleased.  In  order,  therefore,  to  awaken  emotions  of 
beauty  and  sublimity,  there  must  exist  a  congridty  in 
the  arrangement  and  composition  of  parts  which  will 
prevent  the  operation  of  causes  that  would  awaken  in- 
congruous emotions. 

But  there  is  another  principle  which  has  a  still  more 
powerful  operation  in  regard  to  the  effect  of  combina- 
tion and  composition.  We  are  always  accustomed  to 
view  objects  with  some  reference  to  their  nature  and 
use.  We  always  feel  that  every  effect  must  have  a 
cause,  and  that  every  contrivance  has  some  design 
which  it  was  made  to  accomplish. 

There  is  no  intellectual  attribute  of  mind  which  is 
regarded  with  more  admiration  than  loisdom,  which  is 
always  shown  in  selecting  the  best  means  for  accom- 
plishing a  given  end ;  and  the  more  interesting  or  im- 
portant is  the  object  to  be  secured,  the  more  is  the 


THE   SUSCEPTIBILITIES — EMOTIONS   OF   TASTE.  127 

mind  pleased  with  discovering  the  wisdom  exhibited 
in  adapting  means  to  secure  this  end.  Almost  every 
construction  of  nature  or  of  art  is  regarded  by  the 
mind  as  having  some  use  and  design.  Xo  mind,  ex- 
cept one  bereft  of  its  powers,  would  ever  employ  itself 
in  designing  any  thing  which  has  no  possible  use, 
either  in  benefiting  or  pleasing  the  designer  or  others ; 
and  should  any  such  object  be  found,  it  would  cause 
only  disgust,  as  exhibiting  the  fatuity  of  a  mind  which 
spent  its  powers  in  contriving  so  useless  a  thing. 

There  are  many  objects  which  meet  the  eye  of  man 
for  which  he  in  vain  seeks  the  use  and  design ;  but 
such  objects  are  never  attended  with  the  conviction 
that  there  is  no  possible  use  to  which  they  can  be  ap- 
plied ;  on  the  contrary,  they  more  frequently  provoke 
curiosity,  and  awaken  desire  to  discover  their  nature 
and  their  use.  There  is  a  never-failing  conviction  at- 
tending all  our  discoveries  of  new  objects  in  nature 
that  there  is  some  design  or  contrivance  of  which  they 
form  a  link  in  the  chain. 

Whenever  the  object  of  any  design  is  ascertained, 
immediately  there  commences  an  examination  of  the 
modes  by  which  this  object  is  to  be  effected.  If  every 
thing  is  found  to  harmonize — if  a  relation  of  fitness  and 
propriety  is  discovered  in  every  part,  the  mind  is  sat- 
isfied with  the  exhibition  of  wisdom  which  is  thus 
discovered.  But  if  some  parts  are  found  tending  to 
counteract  the  general  design  of  the  contrivance,  the 
object  is  displeasing.  Every  work  of  art,  then,  de- 
pends, for  the  pleasure  it  affords,  not  alone  on  the  va- 
rious forms,  colors,  sounds,  and  motions  which  are 
combined  to  afiect  the  senses,  but  on  the  nature  of  the 


128       THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

design  intended,  and  on  the  skill  which  is  shown  in  so 
composing  and  arranging  the  several  parts  that  each 
shall  duly  aid  in  cftecting  this  design.  This  is  the 
particular  in  which  the  genius  of  the  painter,  the  sculp- 
tor, the  architect,  the  musician,  and  the  poet  is  espe- 
cially exhibited. 

Another  particular  to  be  noticed  in  reference  to  this 
subject  is  the  implanted  principle  of  curiosity,  or  the 
desire  which  the  mind  feels  to  discover  what  is  new. 
After  we  have  discovered  the  object  for  which  a  thing 
is  contrived,  and  the  fit  adjustment  of  every  part  to 
this  object,  one  cause  of  interest  in  it  ceases.  And 
objects  which  have  been  the  subjects  of  repeated  ob- 
servation and  inspection  never  yield  so  much  interest 
as  those  which  afford  to  the  mind  some  fresh  opportu- 
nity to  discover  neio  indications  of  design,  and  of  fitness 
in  the  means  for  accomplishing  the  design.  The  love 
of  novelty,  then,  is  a  powerful  principle  in  securing 
gTatification  to  the  mind.  Of  course,  the  genius  of 
the  artist  is  to  be  displayed,  not  only  in  arranging  the 
several  parts  so  as  to  accomplish  a  given  design,  but 
in  the  very  effort  to  secui'e  a  design  which  is  new,  so 
that  the  mind  will  have  a  fresh  object  for  exercising  its 
powers  in  detecting  the  fitness  of  means  for  accom- 
plishing a  given  end. 

From  the  preceding,  we  recapitulate  the  following 
causes  for  the  pleasurable  emotions  which  are  felt  in 
view  of  certain  objects  of  sight,  and  in  certain  combi- 
nations of  sound :  They  recall  emotions  which,  in  past 
experience,  have  been  connected  with  the  conception 
of  operations  and  emotions  of  other  minds,  or  with 
material  objects  that  were  regarded  as  the  causes  of 


THE   SUSCEPTIBILITIES — EMOTIONS   OF  TASTE.  129 

pleasurable  emotions  to  ourselves  ;  they  recall  emo- 
tions that  are  congruous  in  their  nature ;  they  cause 
emotions  of  pleasure  from  the  discovery  of  fitness  in 
design  and  composition  ;  and,  finally,  they  awaken 
emotions  of  novelty. 

Emotions  of  taste  that  are  painful  are  caused  by  the 
presence  of  objects  that  recall  painful  emotions  with 
which  they  have  formerly  been  connected  ;  by  objects 
that  recall  incongruous  emotions ;  by  objects  that  ex- 
hibit a  want  of  fitness  and  design  ;  and  by  objects 
that  are  common,  when  the  mind  has  been  led  to  ex- 
pect novelty. 


OBJECTS,    MOTIONS,    AND   SOUNDS   THAT   CAUSE   EMO- 
TIONS  OF   TASTE. 

The  causes  which  produce  emotions  of  taste  have 
now  been  pointed  out.  An  inquiry  as  to  v:hich  are 
the  objects,  motions,  and  sounds,  and  their  various 
combinations,  that,  in  our  experience,  have  awakened 
such  emotions,  may  lead  to  facts  that  will  establish 
the  position  assumed. 

Emotions  of  taste  generally  are  divided  into  two 
classes,  called  emotions  of  siiblimity  and  emotions  of 
beauty.  Emotions  of  sublimity  resemble  those  which 
exist  in  the  mind  at  the  display  of  great  intellectual 
power,  and  at  exhibitions  of  strong  passion  and  emo- 
tions in  another  mind.  Emotions  of  beauty  resemble 
those  which  are  experienced  at  the  exhibition  of  the 
more  gentle  emotions  of  mind,  such  as  pity,  humility, 
meekness,  and  afiectioi?i. 

F2 


130  THE   BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

Of  Sounds, 

All  sounds  are  sublime  which  in  past  experience 
have  been  associated  with  the  strong  emotions  of  fear 
and  terror.  Such  sounds  are  heard  in  the  roar  of  ar- 
tillery, the  howling  of  a  storm,  the  roll  of  thunder,  and 
the  rumbling  of  an  earthquake.  Sounds  are  sublime, 
also,  which  convey  an  idea  of  great  power  and  might. 
This  is  illustrated  in  the  emotions  felt  at  the  uproot- 
ing of  trees  and  the  prostration  of  nature  before  a 
whirlwind ;  in  the  force  of  the  rolling  waves,  as  they 
dash  against  the  cliffs  ;  and  in  art,  by  the  working  of 
some  ponderous  and  mighty  engine,  that  astonishes 
with  the  immense  resistance  it  can  overcome. 

Other  sounds,  also,  are  sublime  which  have  often 
been  associated  with  emotions  of  awe,  solemnity,  or 
deep  melancholy.  Such  are  the  tolling  of  a  heavy 
bell  and  the  solemn  notes  of  the  organ. 

There  may  be  certain  circumstances  that  render  a 
sound,  that  otherwise  would  be  very  gentle  and  beau- 
tiful, more  strongly  sublime  than  even  those  sounds 
that  are  generally  most  terrific.  Gray  describes  such 
a  combination  of  circumstances  in  a  letter  to  a  friend. 
"Did  you  never  observe,"  said  he,  "while  rocking 
winds  are  piping  loud,  that  pause,  as  the  gust  is  re- 
collecting itself,  and  rising  upon  the  ear  in  a  shrill  and 
plaintive  note,  like  the  swell  of  the  ^Eolian  harp  ?  I 
do  assure  you  there  is  nothing  in  the  world  so  like 
the  voice  of  a  spiriV 

We  have  another  example  in  Scripture :  "  And  be- 
hold, the  Lord  passed  by,  and  a  great  and  strong  wind 
rent  the  mountains,  and  brake  in  pieces  the  rocks  be- 


THE   SUSCEPTIBILITIES — EMOTIONS    OF   TASTE.  131 

fore  the  Lord ;  but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the  wind ; 
and  after  the  wind  an  earthquake ;  but  the  Lord  was 
not  in  the  earthquake ;  and  after  the  earthquake  a  fire ; 
but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the  fire ;  and  after  the  fire  a 
still  small  voice.  And  it  was  so,  when  Elijah  heard 
it,  he  wrapped  his  face  in  a  mantle."  In  both  these 
cases,  the  sudden  silence  and  the  still  small  voice,  so 
contrasted  with  the  tumult  around,  would  awaken  the 
most  thrilling  emotions  of  the  sublime.  In  some  cases 
it  is  the  sense  which  these  sounds  awaken  of  the  pres- 
ence of  some  awful  and  powerful  Being  that  causes 
such  emotions. 

There  are  a  great  variety  of  sounds  that  are  called 
beautiful.  Such  are  the  sound  of  a  distant  waterfall, 
the  murmur  of  a  rivulet,  the  sighing  of  the  wind,  the 
tinkling  of  the  sheepfold,  the  lowing  of  distant  kine, 
and  the  note  of  the  shepherd's  pipe.  But  it  must  be 
remarked  that  it  is  always  a  combination  of  circum- 
stances that  make  sounds  either  sublime  or  beautiful. 
If  we  know,  by  the  source  from  which  they  originate, 
that  they  are  caused  by  no  display  of  power  or  dan- 
ger, or  if  necessarily  they  have  low  and  mean  associa- 
tions connected  with  them,  the  emotions  of  the  sublime 
or  beautiful,  which  would  otherwise  recur,  are  prevent- 
ed. Thus  the  rumbling  of  a  cart  is  sublime  when  it 
is  believed  to  be  thunder,  and  loses  this  character  when 
its  true  cause  is  discovered.  The  sound  of  the  lowing 
of  kine  in  certain  circumstances  is  very  beautiful,  and 
in  others  very  vulgar  and  displeasing. 

Music  seems  to  owe  its  chief  power  over  the  mind 
to  the  fact  that  it  can  combine  all  kinds  of  sounds  that 
have  ever  been  associated  with  any  emotions,  either  of 


132  THE   BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

dignity,  awe,  and  terror;  or  of  joy,  sprightliness,  and 
mirth ;  or  of  tenderness,  melancholy,  and  grief.  Its 
power  depends  on  the  nature  of  the  particular  sounds, 
and  also  on  the  nature  of  their  combination  and  suc- 
cession in  relation  to  time,  and  in  relation  to  a  certain 
sound  which  is  called  the  fundamental  or  key  note. 

The  art  of  a  musical  composer  consists  in  the  abil- 
ity with  which  he  succeeds  in  producing  a  certain 
class  of  emotions  which  he  aims  to  awaken.  The 
more  finished  productions  of  this  art  are  never  relished 
till  long  observation  and  experience  enable  the  listener 
to  judge  of  the  nature  of  the  design,  and  with  how 
much  success  the  composer  has  succeeded  in  effecting 
it.  Music,  when  adapted  to  certain  words,  has  its  na- 
ture and  design  more  clearly  portrayed,  and  in  such 
productions  it  is  easier  to  judge  of  the  success  of  the 
composer. 

Of  Color, 

There  are  no  colors  which  ordinarily  excite  so  strong 
an  emotion  as  to  be  called  sublime.  The  deep  black 
of  mourning  and  the  rich  purple  of  royalty  approach 
the  nearest  to  this  character.  That  colors  acquire 
their  power  in  awakening  agreeable  or  disagreeable 
emotions  simply  from  the  emotions  which  have  ordi- 
narily existed  in  connection  with  them,  appears  from 
the  fact  that  the  associations  of  mankind  are  so  exceed- 
ingly diverse  on  this  subject.  What  is  considered  a 
dignified  and  solemn  color  in  one  nation  is  tawdry  and 
vulgar  in  another.  Thus,  with  us,  yellow  is  common 
and  tawdry,  but  among  the  Chinese  it  is  a  favorite 
color.     Black,  with  us,  has  solemn  and  mournful  as- 


THE   SUSCEPTIBILITIES — EMOTIONS    OF   TASTE.  133 

sociations,  but  in  Spain  and  Venice  it  is  an  agreeable 
color.  White,  in  this  country,  is  beautiful,  as  the 
emblem  of  purity  and  innocence,  but  in  China  it  is  the 
sorrowful  garb  of  mourning. 

Of  Forms. 

Forms  that  awaken  emotions  of  sublimity  are  such 
as  have  been  associated  with  emotions  of  danger,  ter- 
ror, awe,  or  solemnity.  Such  are  military  ensigns, 
cannon,  the  hearse,  the  monument  of  death,  and  vari- 
ous objects  of  this  kind.  Those  forms  which  distin- 
guish bodies  that  have  great  strength,  or  which  are 
enduring  in  their  nature,  awaken  the  same  class  of 
emotions.  Thus  the  Gothic  castle,  the  outline  of  rocks 
and  mountains,  and  the  form  of  the  oak,  are  examples. 
Bodies  often  appear  sublime  from  the  mere  circum- 
stance of  size,  when  compared  with  objects  of  the  same 
kind.  Thus  the  pyramids  of  Egypt  are  an  example 
where  relative  size,  together  with  their  imperishable 
materials,  awakens  emotions  of  sublimity.  The  ideas 
of  beauty  of  form  depend  almost  entirely  on  their  fit- 
ness to  the  object  for  which  they  are  designed,  and  on 
many  casual  associations  with  which  they  are  con- 
nected. 

Of  Motion, 

All  motion  that  awakens  sublime  ideas  is  such  as 
conveys  the  notion  of  great  force  and  power.  Motions 
of  this  kind  are  generally  in  straight  or  angular  lines. 
Such  motions  are  seen  in  the  working  of  machinery, 
and  in  the  efforts  of  animal  nature.  Quick  motion  is 
more  sublime  than  slow.     Motions  that  awaken  ideas 


134  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

of  beauty  are  generally  slow  and  curving.  Such  are 
the  windings  of  the  quiet  rivulet,  the  gliding  motion 
of  birds  through  the  air,  the  waving  of  trees,  and  the 
cuiding  of  vapor. 

In  regard  to  the  beauty  and  sublimity  of  forms  and 
color,  it  is  equally  true,  as  in  reference  to  sound,  that 
the  alteration  of  circumstances  will  very  materially  al- 
ter the  nature  of  the  emotions  connected  with  them. 
If  they  are  so  combined  as  to  cause  incongruous  emo- 
tions, or  if  they  do  not  harmonize  with  the  general  de- 
sign of  any  composition,  emotions  of  the  sublime  or 
beautiful  are  not  awakened.  For  example,  if  the  vivid 
green,  which  is  agreeable  in  itself  from  the  pleasing 
emotions  which  have  been  connected  with  it,  is  com- 
bined with  a  scene  of  melancholy  and  desolation,  where 
the  design  of  the  artist  is  to  awaken  other  than  lively 
emotions,  it  appears  incongruous  and  displeasing. 

The  art  of  the  poet  consists  in  the  use  of  such  lan- 
guage as  awakens  emotions  of  beauty  and  sublimity, 
either  by  recalling  conceptions  of  various  forms,  col- 
ors, and  motions  in  nature,  which  are  beautiful  and 
sublime,  or  the  strong  and  powerful,  or  the  soft  and 
gentle  emotions  of  mind. 

Emotions  of  moral  sublimity  are  such  as  are  felt  in 
witnessing  exhibitions  of  the  force  of  intellect  or  of 
strong  feelings. 

Emotions  of  moral  beauty  are  those  that  are  felt  in 
witnessing  the  exhibition  of  the  gentler  and  tender 
emotions  of  mind.  These  emotions  are  much  more 
powerful  and  delightful  than  when  they  are  more  faint- 
ly recalled  by  those  objects  of  perception  which  are 
called  sublime  and  beautiful. 


THE   SUSCEPTIBILITIES — EMOTIONS   OF  TASTE.  135 

The  taste  is  improved  by  cultivating  a  love  for  in- 
tellectual endowments  and  moral  qualities.  It  is  also 
cultivated  by  gaining  an  extensive  knowledge  of  ob- 
jects and  scenes  which,  either  in  history,  or  in  poetry, 
or  in  any  compositions  of  the  fine  arts,  have  been  as- 
sociated with  emotions.  It  is  also  cultivated  by  learn- 
ing the  rules  of  fitness  and  propriety,  by  studying 
works  of  taste,  by  general  reading,  by  intercourse  with 
persons  of  refinement  and  taste,  and  by  a  nice  obser- 
vation of  the  adaptation  and  fitness  of  things  in  the 
daily  intercourse  and  pursuits  of  life. 

The  liighest  efibrts  of  taste  are  exhibited  in  the 
works  of  artists  who  make  such  pursuits  the  express 
object  of  their  profession. 

But  in  ordinary  life  the  cultivation  of  taste  is  chief- 
ly exhibited  in  the  style,  furniture,  and  decoration  of 
private  dwellings,  and  in  the  dress  and  ornaments  of 
the  person.  In  reference  to  these,  there  is  the  same 
opportunity  for  gratifying  the  eye  as  there  is  in  the 
compositions  of  the  fine  arts.  On  these  subjects  there 
are  rules  in  regard  to  color,  outline,  and  combination, 
and  also  rules  of  fitness  and  propriety,  of  which  every 
person  of  taste  sensibly  feels  the  violation.  In  the 
construction  of  dwelling-houses,  in  the  proportion  of 
rooms,  in  the  suitableness  of  colors,  in  the  fitness  of  all 
circumstances  to  the  spot  of  location,  to  the  habits  and 
circumstances  of  the  proprietor,  to  ideas  of  convenience, 
and  to  various  particulars  which  may  be  objects  of  re- 
gard, in  all  these  respects  the  eye  of  taste  ever  is  pre- 
pared to  distinguish  beauties  or  defects. 

As  it  regards  dress,  every  individual  will  necessari- 
ly exhibit,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  the  degree  in 


136       THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

which  taste  has  been  cultivated.  A  person  of  real  re- 
finement of  taste  will  always  have  the  dress  consist- 
ent with  the  circumstances  of  fortune,  the  relative  rank 
in  life,  the  station  and  character,  the  hour  of  the  day, 
the  particular  pursuit  or  profession,  and  the  period  of 
life. 

If  a  person  is  dressed  with  a  richness  and  elegance 
which  fortune  does  not  warrant,  if  the  dress  is  either 
inferior  or  superior  to  that  of  others  of  the  same  rank 
and  station,  if  it  is  unfitted  to  the  hour  or  the  pursuit, 
if  youth  puts  on  the  grave  dress  of  age,  or  age  assumes 
the  bright  colors  and  ornaments  of  youth,  in  all  these 
cases  the  eye  of  taste  is  offended. 

In  the  adaptation  of  colors  to  complexions,  and  the 
style  of  dress  to  the  particular  form  of  the  person  ;  in 
avoiding  the  extremes  of  fashion,  the  excesses  of  orna- 
ment, and  all  approaches  to  immodesty — in  all  these 
respects  a  good  taste  can  be  displayed  in  dress,  and 
thus  charm  us  in  every-day  life.  A  person  of  cultiva- 
ted taste,  in  all  that  relates  to  the  little  arrangements 
of  domestic  life,  the  ornaments  of  the  exterior  and  in- 
terior of  a  dwelling,  the  pursuits  of  hours  of  relaxation 
and  amusement,  the  modes  of  social  intercourse,  the 
nice  perception  of  proprieties  in  habits,  manners,  modes 
of  address,  and  the  thousand  little  every-day  incidents 
of  life,  will  throw  an  undefined  and  nameless  charm 
around,  like  the  soft  light  of  heaven,  that,  without  daz- 
zling, perpetually  cheers. 

Emotions  of  the  Ludicrous, 
There  is  a  certain  class  of  feelings  called  emotions 
of  the  ludicrous,  which  are  the  causes  of  laughter. 


THE   SUSCEPTIBILITIES — EMOTIONS   OF   TASTE.   137 

These  are  generally  pleasurable  in  their  nature,  though 
there  are  times  when  the  emotions  which  produce 
laughter  are  painful.  Emotions  of  this  kind  are  usu- 
ally caused  by  the  sudden  union  of  certain  ideas  in 
our  conceptions  when  the  laws  of  association  appear  to 
be  violated.  Such  ideas  are  called  incongruous,  be- 
cause, according  to  the  ordinary  experience  of  our 
minds,  they  would  not  naturally  have  appeared  to- 
gether. 

In  order  to  awaken  this  emotion,  it  is  not  only  nec- 
essary that  the  mind  should  discover  ideas  united  which 
have  not  ordinarily  been  so  in  past  experience,  but  those 
which  are  united  in  direct  opposition  to  the  laws  of 
association  Thus,  if  there  has  been  a  union  of  cer- 
tain qualities  in  an  object  which  have  unifomily  tend- 
ed to  produce  emotions  of  a  dignified  and  solemn  kind, 
and  some  particular  is  pointed  out  which  is  mean,  lit- 
tle, or  low,  the  unexpected  incongruity  occasions  mirth. 

In  like  manner,  when  an  object  in  past  experience 
has  uniformly  united  ideas  which  awakened  emotions 
of  contempt,  if  some  particular  is  pointed  out  in  asso- 
ciation with  these  which  is  grand  or  sublime,  this  in- 
congruity occasions  an  emotion  of  the  ludicrous.  This 
is  the  foundation  of  the  amusement  produced  by  bom- 
bastic writings,  where  objects  that  are  grand  and  sub- 
lime have  low  and  mean  conceptions  connected  with 
them,  or  where  qualities  that  are  insignificant  or  mean 
are  connected  with  those  which  are  grand  and  sublime. 

The  following  example  of  the  union  of  such  incon- 
gruous ideas  will  illustrate : 

*'  And  now  had  Phoebus  in  the  lap 
Of  Thetis  taken  out  his  nap, 


138  THE   BIBLE   AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

And,  like  a  lobster  boiled,  the  mom 
From  black  to  red  began  to  turn." 

The  sublime  ideas  connected  with  the  sun,  and  the 
classical  associations  united  with  the  name  of  Thetis, 
would  not  naturally  have  recalled  the  idea  of  so  insig- 
nificant an  animal,  nor  the  changes  produced  in  cook- 
ing it,  and  these  connections  violate  the  ordinary  laws 
of  association. 

Emotions  of  the  ludicrous  are  also  produced  by  the 
sudden  conception  of  some  association  in  ideas  which 
has  never  before  been  discovered.  Thus,  if  ideas  have 
been  united  in  the  mind  on  some  other  principle  of 
association  than  that  of  resemblance,  the  sudden  dis- 
covery of  some  unexpected  resemblance  will  produce 
mirth.  This  is  the  foundation  of  the  merriment  pro- 
duced by  pu7is,  where  the  ideas  w^hich  the  words  rep- 
resent would  never  have  been  united  by  the  principles 
of  association,  but  the  union  of  these  ideas  is  effected 
on  the  principle  of  resemblance  between  the  sounds  of 
the  words  which  recall  these  ideas.  When  the  mind 
suddenly  perceives  this  unexpected  foundation  for  the 
union  of  ideas  that  in  all  other  respects  are  incongru- 
ous, an  emotion  of  the  ludicrous  is  produced.  This  is 
also  the  foundation  of  the  pleasure  which  is  felt  in  the 
use  of  alliteration  in  poetry,  where  a  resemblance  is 
discovered  in  the  initial  sound  of  words  that  recall 
ideas  which  in  all  other  respects  are  incongruous. 

All  minds  enjoy  the  excitement  of  this  class  of  emo- 
tions, but  some  much  more  than  others.  Laughter^ 
which  is  the  effect  of  this  class  of  emotions,  is  enjoyed 
more  or  less  by  all  mankind,  and  is  regarded  as  not 
only  an  agi*eeable,  but  as  a  healthful  exercise. 


THE  MORAL  SUSCEPTIBILITIES.  139 


CHAPTER  XYIL 

THE   MORAL    SUSCEPTIBILITIES. 

A  BRIEF  reference  has  been  made  to  those  suscepti- 
"bilities  which  are  the  subject  of  this  chapter.  These, 
from  their  importance,  are  entitled  to  a  more  enlarged 
consideration. 

Before  proceeding,  however,  it  is  desirable  to  refer  to 
the  uses  of  the  term  morale  inasmuch  as  it  often  is  em- 
ployed with  a  vague  comprehension  of  its  signification. 
In  its  widest  sense  it  signifies  ichatever  relates  to  the 
regulation  of  mind  by  motives  in  distinction  from 
those  influences  that  produce  involuntary  results. 

In  a  more  limited  sense,  it  signifies  whatever  relates 
to  the  regulation  of  mind  in  reference  to  the  rules  of 
right  and  lorong. 

In  the  preceding  pages  it  has  been  assumed  that  the 
grand  object  for  which  the  Creator  formed  mind  and 
all  things  is  to  produce  the  greatest  possible  happiness 
with  the  least  p)Ossible  evil,  and  that  this  design  is  so 
impressed  on  the  human  mind  that  the  needless  de- 
struction of  happiness  is  felt  to  be  wrong — that  is, 
contrary  or  unfitted  to  the  design  of  all  things ;  while 
all  that  tends  to  promote  happiness  is  felt  to  be  nght, 
or  consistent  with  this  plan. 

In  order  to  a  more  clear  view  of  this  part  of  the 
subject,  it  is  important  to  inquire  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  ideas  of  right  and  icrong  seem  to  originate. 

The  young  child  first  notices  that  certain  actions 


140  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

of  its  own  are  regarded  with  smiles  and  tones  of  love 
and  approval,  while  other  acts  occasion  frowns  and 
tones  of  displeasure. 

Next,  it  perceives  that  whatever  gives  pleasure  to 
itself  and  to  others  is  called  good  and  rights  while 
whatever  causes  unpleasant  feelings  is  called  had  and 
v:rong.  Moreover,  it  notices  that  there  is  a  right  and 
wi'ong  way  to  hold  its  spoon,  to  use  its  playthings,  to 
put  on  its  clothes,  and  to  do  multitudes  of  other 
things.  It  thus  perceives,  more  and  more,  that  there 
is  some  rule  to  regulate  the  use  and  action  of  all 
things,  both  animate  and  inanimate,  and  that  such 
rules  always  have  reference  to  some  plan  or  design. 

As  its  faculties  develop  and  its  observation  en- 
larges, the  general  impression  is  secured  that  all  plans 
and  contrivances  of  men  are  designed  to  promote  en- 
joyment or  to  prevent  discomfort,  and  are  called  good 
and  right  just  so  far  as  this  is  done.  At  the  same 
time,  all  that  tend  to  discomfort  or  pain  are  called  bad 
and  wrong. 

In  aU  the  works  of  nature  around,  too,  every  thing 
that  promotes  enjoyment  is  called  good  and  right,  and 
the  opposite  is  called  evil  and  wrong. 

At  last  there  is  a  resulting  feeling  that  the  great  de- 
sign of  all  things  is  to  secure  good  and  prevent  evil, 
and  that  whatever  is  opposed  to  this  is  wrong,  and  un- 
fitted to  the  object  for  which  all  things  exist.  The 
question  whether  this  impression  is  owing  solely  to 
observation  or  partly  to  mental  constitution  is  waived 
as  of  little  practical  consequence. 

But,  in  the  experience  of  infancy  and  childhood,  the 
law  of  sacrifice  is  speedily  developed.     It  is  perceived 


'  THE  MOEAL  SUSCEPTIBILITIES.  141 

that  mucli  of  the  good  to  "be  gained,  if  sought  to  excess, 
occasions  pain,  so  that  there  must  be  a  certain  amount 
of  self-denial  practiced,  which,  to  the  young  novice, 
sometimes  involves  disappointment  and  discomfort. 
It  is  also  seen  that  frequently  two  or  more  enjoyments 
are  oflfered  which  are  incompatible,  so  that  one  must  be 
relinquished  to  gain  the  other.  It  is  perceived,  also, 
that  there  is  a  constant  calculation  going  on  as  to 
which  will  be  the  hest — that  is,  which  will  secure  the 
most  good  with  the  least  evil.  And  the  child  is  con- 
stantly instructed  that  it  must  avoid  excess,  and  must 
give  up  what  is  of  less  value  to  secure  the  greater 
good.  All  this  training  involves  sacmfices  which  are 
more  or  less  painful,  so  that  a  young  child  will  some- 
times cry  as  it  voluntarily  gives  up  one  kind  of  pleas- 
ure as  the  only  mode  of  securing  what  is  preferred. 

It  is  perceived,  also,  that  there  is  a  constant  haU 
ancing  of  good  and  evil,  so  that  a  given  amount  of 
enjoyment  cancels  or  repays  for  a  certain  amount  of 
evil.  When  a  great  amount  of  enjoyment  is  pur- 
chased by  a  small  degree  of  labor  or  trouble,  the  com- 
jpound  result  is  deemed  a  good,  and  called  right ;  on 
the  contrary,  when  the  evil  involved  exceeds  a  given 
amount  in  comparison  to  the  good,  the  compound  re- 
sult is  called  evil  and  wrong. 

Thus  is  generated  the  impression  that  there  is  a 
law  of  sacrifice  instituted  requiring  the  greatest  possi- 
ble good  with  the  least  possible  evil,  and  that  this  is 
the  great  design  of  all  things. 

The  impression  is,  not  merely  that  we  are  to  seek 
enjoyment  and  avoid  pain,  but  that  we  are  to  seek  the 
greatest  ^possible  good  with  the  least  jpossible  evil,  and 


142  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

that  in  doing  this  we  are  to  obey  the  law  of  sacrifice 
and  suffering,  by  which  the  greatest  possible  good  is 
to  he  bought  by  a  certain  amount  of  evil  voluntarily 
assumed. 

In  regard  to  this  great  law  of  sacrifice,  the  highest 
part  of  it  is  discerned  in  the  earliest  experiences  of 
life.  The  young  child  very  soon  perceives  that  its 
mother  and  its  other  friends  are  constantly  making 
sacrifices  for  its  own  good,  and  bearing  inconveniences 
and  trouble  for  the  good  of  those  around.  And  those 
who  perform  such  acts  of  benevolent  self-sacrifice  are 
praised,  and  their  conduct  is  called  good  and  right. 
Yoluntary  suffeAng  to  promote  the  loelfare  of  oth- 
ers is  discerned  to  be  the  highest  kind  of  good  and 
right  conduct  in  the  estimation  of  all. 

The  first  feature,  then,  in  our  moral  nature  is  that 
impression  of  the  great  design  of  our  Creator  which 
furnishes  us  the  means  of  deciding  on  the  rectitude  of 
all  voluntary  action. 

The  second  feature  of  our  moral  constitution  is  what 
is  ordinarily  called  the  sense  of  justice.  It  is  that  sus- 
ceptibility which  is  excited  at  the  view  of  the  conduct 
of  others  as  voluntary  causes  of  good  or  evil. 

In  all  cases  where  free  agents  act  to  promote  hap- 
piness, an  emotion  of  approval  arises,  together  with  a 
desire  of  reward  to  the  author  of  the  good.  On  the 
contrary,  when  there  is  a  voluntary  destruction  of  hap- 
piness, there  is  an  emotion  of  disapproval  and  a  desire 
for  retributive  pain  on  the  author  of  the  wrong. 

These  emotions  are  instinctive,  and  not  at  all  regu- 
lated by  reason  in  their  inception.  When  an  evil  is 
done,  an  instant  desire  is  felt  to  discover  the  cause  ; 


THE   MOEAL   SUSCEPTIBILITIES.  143 

and  when  it  is  found,  an  instant  desire  is  felt  to  inflict 
some  penalty.  So  irrational  is  this  impulse,  that  chil- 
dren will  exhibit  anger  and  deal  blows  on  inanimate 
objects  that  cause  pain.  Even  mature  minds  are  some- 
times conscious  of  this  impulse. 

It  is  the  office  of  the  intellect  to  judge  whether  the 
deed  was  a  voluntary  one,  whether  the  agent  intended 
the  mischief,  and  whether  a  penalty  will  be  of  any  use. 
The  impulse  to  punish  is  never  preceded  by  any  such 
calculations. 

That  this  impulse  is  an  implanted  part  of  our  con- 
stitution, and  not  the  result  of  reason  and  experience, 
is  seen  in  the  delight  manifested  by  young  children  in 
the  narration  of  the  nursery  tale  where  the  cruel  uncle 
who  murdered  the  Babes  in  the  Wood  receives  the  ret- 
ributions of  Heaven. 

Another  feature  in  this  sense  of  justice  is  the  jpro- 
jportion  demanded  between  the  evil  done  and  the  pen- 
alty inflicted.  That  this  also  is  instinctive,  and  not 
the  result  of  reason,  is  seen  in  the  nurseiy,  where  chil- 
dren will  approve  of  slight  penalties  for  slight  offenses, 
and  severe  ones  for  great  ones,  but  will  revolt  from 
any  very  great  disproportion  between  the  wrong  act 
and  its  penalty.  As  a  general  rule,  both  in  the  nurs- 
ery and  in  the  great  family  of  mature  minds,  the  great- 
er the  wrong  done,  the  stronger  the  desire  for  a  penal- 
ty, and  the  more  severe  the  punishment  demanded. 

Another  very  important  point  of  consideration  is  the 
universal  feeling  of  mankind  that  the  natural  penal- 
ties for  wrong-doing  are  not  sufficient,  and  that  it  is 
an  act  of  love  as  well  as  of  justice  to  add  to  these  pen- 
alties.    Thus  the  parent  who  forbids  his  child  to  eat 


144  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

green  fruit  will  not  trust  to  the  results  of  the  natural 
penalty,  but  restrain  by  the  fear  of  the  immediate  and 
more  easily  conceived  penalty  of  chastisement. 

So,  in  the  great  family  of  man,  the  natural  penalties 
for  theft  are  not  deemed  sufficient,  but  severe  penalties 
for  the  protection  of  property  are  added. 

This  particular  is  the  foundation  of  certain  distinc- 
tions that  are  of  great  importance,  which  will  now  be 
pointed  out. 

We  find  the  terms  "  reward  dixidi  punishnenf  used 
in  two  different  relations.  In  the  first  and  widest 
sense  they  signify  not  only  the  penalties  of  human 
law,  but  those  natural  consequences  which,  by  the  con- 
stitution of  nature,  inevitably  follow  certain  courses  of 
conduct. 

Thus  an  indolent  man  is  said  to  receive  poverty  as 
a  punishment,  and  it  is  in  this  sense  that  his  children 
are  said  to  be  punished  for  the  faults  of  their  father. 

The  violations  of  natural  law  are  punished  without 
any  reference  to  the  question  whether  the  evil-doer  in- 
tended the  wrong,  or  whether  he  sinned  in  ignorance, 
or  whether  this  ignorance  was  involuntary  and  una- 
voidable. The  question  of  the  justice  or  injustice  of 
such  natural  penalties  involves  the  great  question  of 
the  right  and  wrong  of  the  system  of  the  universe.  Is 
it  just  and  right  for  the  Creator  to  make  a  system  in 
which  all  free  agents  shall  be  thus  led  to  obedience  to 
its  laws  by  penalties  as  weU  as  rewards,  by  fear  as  well 
as  by  hope  ?  This  question  will  not  be  discussed 
here. 

Most  discussions  as  to  just  rewards  and  penalties 
ordinarily  relate  to  the  added  penalties  by  which  pa- 


THE  MOEAL  SUSCEPTIBILITIES.  145 

rents,  teachers,  and  magistrates  enforce  obedience  to 
natural  or  to  statute  law. 

In  these  questions  reference  is  always  had  to  the 
probable  results  of  such  rewards  and  penalties  in  se- 
curing obedience.  If  experience  has  shown  that  cer- 
tain penalties  do  secure  obedience  to  wise  and  good 
laws,  either  of  nature  or  of  human  enactment,  then 
they  are  considered  just.  If  they  do  not,  they  are 
counted  unwise  and  unjust. 

So,  if  certain  penalties  are  needlessly  severe — that 
is  to  say,  if  a  less  penalty  will  secure  equal  obedience, 
then  this  also  decides  so  severe  a  penalty  to  be  unjust. 

In  deciding  on  the  rectitude  of  the  penalties  of  hu- 
man enactments,  it  is  always  assumed  to  be  unjust  to 
punish  for  any  lack  of  knowledge  and  obedience  when 
the  subject  had  no  power  to  know  and  to  obey.  If  « 
choice  to  obey  will  not  secure  the  act  required  of  a  free 
agent,  then  a  penalty  inflicted  for  disobedience  is  al- 
ways regarded  as  unjust.  The  only  seeming  excep- 
tion to  this  is  the  case  where  a  person,  by  voluntary 
means,  has  deprived  himself  of  ability  to  obey.  But  in 
such  cases  the  punishment  is  felt  to  be  right,  not  be- 
cause he  does  not  obey  when  he  has  no  power,  but  be- 
cause he  has  voluntarily  deprived  himself  of  this  pow- 
er. And  he  is  punished  for  destroying  his  abihty  to 
obey,  and  not  for  violating  the  law. 

These  things  in  human  laws,  then,  are  always  de- 
manded to  make  a  penalty  appear  just  to  the  moral 
sense  of  mankind,  namely,  that  the  subject  have  power 
to  obey,  and  that  he  has  opportunity  to  know  the  law, 
and  is  not  ignorant  by  any  voluntary  and  improper 
neglect. 

a 


146  THE  BIBLE   AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

In  all  questions  of  justice,  therefore,  it  is  important 
to  discriminate  l)etween  those  penalties  that  are  inher- 
ent as  a  part  of  the  great  system  of  the  universe,  and 
for  which  the  Creator  alone  is  the  responsible  cause, 
and  those  which  result  from  voluntary  institutions  of 
which  men  are  the  authors. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  it  is  important  to 
recognize  the  distinction  that  exists  in  regard  to  two 
classes  of  right  and  wrong  actions.  The  first  class  in- 
cludes those  which  are  wrong  in  their  nature  and  in  all 
supposable  cases,  such,  for  example,  as  the  wanton  in- 
fliction of  needless  pain,  or  the  breach  of  plighted  faith, 
or  the  returning  of  love  and  kindness  with  ungrateful 
treatment.  In  all  possible  suppositions,  the  mind  re- 
volts from  such  actions  as  wrong  and  deserving  of  pen- 
alties. It  is  this  class  of  actions  which,  without  any 
reasoning,  the  mind  never  fails  to  disapprove,  and  to 
desire  should  be  visited  w^ith  retributive  penalties. 

The  other  class  of  right  and  wrong  acts  derive  their 
estimate  solely  from  the  circumstances  in  which  they 
occur.  For  example,  a  man  is  angiy  and  beats  a  lit- 
tle child.  Now  the  question  whether  his  feelings  and 
action  are  right  or  wrong  depends  entirely  on  circum- 
stances. If  the  child  has  done  no  evil  and  the  per- 
son knew  it,  his  feelings  and  actions  are  wrong.  But 
if  the  person  is  a  father  correcting  his  child  for  some 
heinous  fault  and  with  only  a  suitable  degree  of  anger, 
then  the  feeling  and  action  are  right. 

There  is  another  mode  of  estimating  conduct  by 
which  the  same  act  may  have  two  opposite  characters, 
according  to  the  relation  in  which  it  is  regarded.  For 
example,  a  good  parent  may  give  •svrong  medicine  to 


THE  MORAL  SUSCEPTIBILITIES.  147 

Ms  child,  or  punish  an  innocent  one,  believing  him  to 
he  guilty. 

In  such  cases  the  act  is  right  as  it  respects  the  mo- 
tive or  intention,  and  wrong  as  it  respects  the  nature 
of  the  action.  It  is  sometimes  the  case  that  a  man 
may  do  a  right  action  with  a  bad  motive,  and  a  wrong 
action  with  a  good  motive. 

Thus  the  same  act  is  right  in  one  relation,  and 
wrong  in  another.  It  is  important  that  this  distinc- 
tion should  be  borne  in  mind. 

The  next  feature  in  our  moral  constitution  is  the 
susceptibility  which  is  excited  by  the  intellectual  judg- 
ment of  our  own  feelings  and  conduct  as  either  right 
or  wrong. 

In  case  we  decide  them  to  be  right,  we  experience 
an  emotion  of  self-approval  which  is  very  delightful ; 
but  if  we  decide  that  they  are  wrong,  we  experience  an 
immediate  penalty  in  a  painful  emotion  called  remorse. 
This  emotion  is  always  proportioned  to  the  amount 
of  evil  done,  and  the  consciousness  that  it  was  done 
knowingly  and  intentionally.  No  suffering  is  more 
keen  than  the  highest  emotions  of  this  kind,  while 
their  pangs  are  often  enduring  and  unappeasable. 
Sometimes  there  is  an  attending  desire  to  inflict  retri- 
bution on  one's  self  as  a  mode  of  alleviating  this  dis- 
tress. 

This  susceptibility  is  usually  denominated  con- 
science. Sometimes  this  word  is  used  to  include  both 
the  intellectual  judgment  of  our  conduct  as  right  or 
wrong,  and  the  consequent  emotions  of  approval  or  re- 
morse ;  sometimes  it  refers  to  the  susceptibility  alone. 
Either  use  is  correct,  as  in  the  connection  in  which  it 


148       THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

is  employed  the  distinction  can  ordinarily  be  easily 
made. 

This  analysis  of  our  moral  constitution  furnishes 
means  for  a  clear  definition  of  such  terms  as  obligated, 
ought,  ought  not,  and  the  like. 

A  person  is  obligated  or  ought  to  do  a  thing  when 
he  has  the  intellect  to  perceive  that  it  is  right,  and  the 
moral  susceptibilities  just  described.  When  he  is  des- 
titute either  of  the  intellect  or  of  these  susceptibilities, 
he  ceases  to  be  a  moral  and  accountable  being.  He 
can  no  longer  be  made  to  feel  any  moral  obligations. 


THE   WILL.  149 


CHAPTER  XYIIL 

THE  WILL. 

It  is  the  jpower  of  choice  which  raises  man  to  the 
dignity  of  an  intellectual  and  moral  being.  Without 
this  principle,  he  would  be  a  creature  of  mere  impulses 
and  instincts.  He  would  possess  susceptibilities  of 
happiness  to  be  excited,  and  intellect  to  devise  and 
discover  the  modes  of  securing  enjoyment ;  but  with- 
out governing  principle,  the  soul  would  be  led  captive 
with  each  successive  desire,  or  be  the  sport  of  chances 
whenever  conflicting  desires  were  awakened. 

He  who  formed  man  in  his  own  perfect  image  left 
not  his  work  without  this  balance-power  to  regulate 
the  complicated  springs  of  so  wonderful  an  existence. 
Man  is  now  not  only  the  image  of  his  Creator  as  lord 
of  this  lower  world,  but  is,  like  him,  the  lord  and  mas- 
ter of  his  own  powers. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  constitution,  both  of 
mind  and  of  the  world,  is  such  that  it  is  impossible  in 
the  nature  of  things  to  gain  every  object  which  is  the 
cause  of  enjoyment.  There  is  a  constant  succession  of 
selections  to  be  made  between  different  modes  of  secur- 
ing happiness.  A  lesser  good  is  given  up  for  a  gi-eat- 
er,  or  some  good  relinquished  altogether  to  avoid  some 
consequent  pain.  Often,  also,  some  painful  state  of 
mind  is  sought  as  the  means  of  securing  some  future 
good,  or  of  avoiding  some  greater  evil.  Thus  men 
endure  want,  fatigue,  and  famine  to  purchase  wealth. 


150  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

Thus  the  nauseous  draught  will  be  swallowed  to  avoid 
the  pains  of  sickness ;  and  thus  the  pleasures  of  do- 
mestic affection  will  be  sacrificed  to  obtain  honor  and 
fame.  The  whole  course  of  life  is  a  constant  succes- 
sion of  such  decisions  between  different  modes  of  se- 
curing happiness  and  of  avoiding  pain. 

Specific  and  Generic  Volitions. 

In  noticing  the  operation  of  mind,  it  will  be  seen 
that  there  is  a  foundation  for  two  classes  of  volitions 
or  acts  of  choice,  which  may  be  denominated  specific 
and  generic. 

A  specific  volition  is  one  that  secui*es  some  partic- 
ular act,  such  as  the  moving  of  the  arm  or  turning  of 
the  head.  Such  volitions  are  ordinarily  consequent  on 
some  more  general  purpose  of  the  mind,  which  they 
aid  in  accomplishing,  and  which  is,  therefore,  denom- 
inated a  generic  volition.  For  example,  a  man  chooses 
to  make  a  certain  journey :  this  is  the  generic  volition, 
and,  in  order  to  carry  it  out,  he  performs  a  great  variety 
of  acts,  each  one  of  which  aids  in  carrying  out  the  ge- 
neric decision.  These  specific  acts  of  will,  which  tend 
to  accomplish  a  more  general  purpose,  may  also  be 
called  subordinate^  because  they  are  controlled  by  a 
generic  volition. 

It  can  be  seen  that  the  generic  volitions  may  them- 
selves become  subordinate  to  a  stiU  more  comprehen- 
sive purpose.  Thus  the  man  may  decide  to  make  a 
journey,  which  is  a  generic  volition  in  reference  to  all 
acts  subordinate  to  this  end.  But  this  journey  may 
be  a  subordinate  part  of  a  more  general  purpose  to  make 
a  fortune  or  to  secure  some  other  important  end. 


THE   WILL.  151 

It  is  frequently  the  case  that  a  generic  purpose, 
which  relates  to  objects  that  require  a  long  time  and 
many  complicated  operations,  exists  when  the  mind 
seems  almost  unconscious  of  its  power.  For  example, 
a  man  may  form  a  generic  purpose  to  enter  a  profession 
for  which  years  will  be  required  to  prepare.  And  while 
his  whole  course  of  action  is  regulated  by  this  decis- 
ion, he  engages  in  pursuits  entirely  foreign  to  it  and 
which  seem  to  engross  his  whole  attention.  These 
pursuits  may  sometimes  be  such  as  are  antagonistic  to 
his  grand  pm-pose,  so  as  at  least  to  imperil  or  retard  its 
accomplishment.  And  yet  this  strong  and  quiet  pur- 
pose remains,  and  is  eventually  carried  out. 

It  is  the  case,  also,  that  a  generic  volition  may  be 
formed  to  be  performed  at  some  particular  time  and 
place,  and  then  the  mind  becomes  entirely  unconscious 
of  it  till  the  appointed  period  and  circumstances  occur. 
Then  the  decision  becomes  dominant,  and  controls  all 
other  purposes. 

Thus  a  man  may  decide  that,  at  a  specified  hour,  he 
will  stop  his  studies  and  perform  certain  gymnastic  ex- 
ercises. This  volition  is  forgotten  until  the  hour  ar- 
rives, and  then  it  recurs  and  is  carried  out. 

This  phenomenon  sometimes  occurs  in  sleep.  Some 
persons,  in  watching  with  the  sick,  will  determine  to 
wake  at  given  hours  to  administer  medicines ;  then 
they  will  sleep  soundly  till  the  appointed  time  comes, 
when  they  will  waken  and  perform  the  predetermined 
actions. 

In  regard  to  the  commencement  of  a  generic  pui-pose, 
we  find  that  sometimes  it  is  so  distinct  and  definite  as 
to  be  the  subject  of  consciousness  and  memory.     For 


152       THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

example,  a  spendthrift,  in  some  moment  of  suffering 
and  despondency,  may  form  a  determination  to  com- 
mence a  systematic  course  of  thrift  and  economy,  and 
may  actually  carry  it  out  through  all  his  future  life. 
Such  cases  are  often  to  be  found  on  record  or  in  every- 
day life. 

In  other  cases,  this  quiet,  hidden,  but  controlling  pur- 
pose seems  to  be  formed  by  unconscious  and  imper- 
ceptible influences,  so  that  the  mind  can  not  revert  to 
the  specific  time  or  manner  when  it  originated.  For 
example,  a  child  who  is  trained  from  early  life  to  speak 
the  truth,  can  never  revert  to  any  particular  moment 
when  this  generic  purpose  originated. 

It  is  sometimes  the  case,  also,  that  a  person  will  con- 
template some  generic  volition  before  it  occurs,  while 
the  process  of  its  final  formation  seems  almost  beyond 
the  power  of  scrutiny.  For  example,  a  man  may  be 
urged  to  relinquish  one  employment  and  engage  in  an- 
other. He  reflects,  consults,  and  is  entirely  uncertain 
how  he  shall  decide.  As  time  passes,  he  gradually 
inclines  toward  the  proposed  change,  until,  finally,  he 
finds  his  determination  fixed,  he  scarcely  knows  when 
or  how. 

Thus  it  appears  that  generic  volitions  commence 
sometimes  so  instantaneously  and  obviously  that  the 
time  and  influences  connected  with  them  can  be  rec- 
ognized. In  other  cases,  the  decision  seems  to  be  a 
gradual  one,  while  in  some  instances  the  process  can 
be  traced,  and  in  others  it  is  entirely  unnoticed  or  for- 
gotten. 

It  is  in  reference  to  such  generic  purposes  that  the 
moral  character  of  men  is  estimated.     An  honest  man 


THE   WILL.  153 

is  one  who  has  a  fixed  purpose  to  act  honestly  in  all 
circumstances.  A  truthful  man  is  one  who  has  such 
a  purpose  to  speak  the  truth  at  all  times. 

In  such  cases,  the  degree  in  which  such  a  purpose 
controls  all  others  is  the  measure  of  a  man's  moral 
character  in  the  estimate  of  society. 

The  history  of  mankind  shows  a  great  diversity  of 
moral  character  dependent  on  such  generic  volitions. 
Some  men  possess  firm  and  reliable  moral  principles 
in  certain  directions,  while  they  are  very  destitute  of 
them  in  others. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  some  have  formed  a  very 
decided  purpose  in  regard  to  honesty  in  business  af- 
fairs, who  yet  are  miserable  victims  to  intemperance. 
Others  have  cultivated  a  principle  called  honor,  that 
restrains  them  from  certain  actions  regarded  as  mean, 
and  yet  they  may  be  frequenters  of  gambling  saloons 
and  other  haunts  of  vice. 

In  the  religious  world,  too,  it  is  the  case  that  some 
who  are  very  firm  and  decided  on  all  points  of  religious 
observances  and  in  the  cultivation  of  devotional  emo- 
tions, are  guilty  of  very  mean  actions,  such  as  some 
worldly  men  of  honor  would  not  practice  at  the  sacri- 
fice of  a  right  hand. 

On  Causes  of  Yolition. 

It  becomes,  then,  a  most  interesting  subject  of  in- 
quiry as  to  the  causes  which  decide  these  diversities 
of  moral  purposes,  and  also  the  causes  which  oper- 
ate to  give  them  more  or  less  control  over  other  prin- 
ciples. 

But,  preliminary  to  this,  it  is  necessary  to  secure 
G2 


154       THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

some  discriminating  accuracy  in  regard  to  the  signifi- 
cation of  the  word  cause  in  its  various  uses. 

This  term,  in  its  widest  sense,  signifies  "  that  with- 
out which  a  change  loill  not  take  place^  and  with 
which  it  will  take  place,''''  This  is  tlie  leading  idea 
which  is  included  in  every  use  of  the  word. 

But  there  is  a  foundation  for  three  classes  of  causes 
which  may  be  denominated  producing  causes,  occo/- 
sional  causes,  and  deciding  causes. 

A  producing  cause  is  that  which  produces  a  change 
by  the  constitution  of  nature,  so  that  in  the  given  cir- 
cumstances there  is  no  power  to  do  otherwise. 

Occasional  causes  are  those  circumstances  which  are 
indispensable  to  the  action  of  producing  causes. 

Thus,  when  fire  is  applied  to  your  powder,  the  fire 
is  the  producing  cause  of  the  explosion,  while  the  act 
of  contact  between  the  fire  and  powder  is  the  occasion- 
al cause. 

In  regard  to  the  action  of  mind  in  volition,  the  mind 
itself  is  the  producing  cause,  while  excited  desires  and 
objects  to  excite  those  desires  are  the  occasional  causes. 
Or,  in  other  words,  mind  is  the  producing  cause  of  its 
own  volitions,  and  motives  are  the  occasional  causes. 

On  Deciding  Causes  of  Volition. 

But  inasmuch  as  mind  always  has  the  power  to 
choose  in  either  of  two  or  more  directions,  the  ques- 
tion arises  as  to  the  causes  which  decide  the  direction 
of  volitions,  and  which  may  be  called  deciding  causes. 
Whenever  it  is  asked,  *'  Why  did  a  person  choose  to 
do  thus  ?"  the  meaning  is,  What  were  the  causes  that 
influenced  him  to  decide  thus  ? 


THE   WILL.  155 

Now  these  causes  are  ascertained,  as  all  others  are, 
by  experience.  Men  are  always  stating  to  each  other, 
as  well  as  noticing  in  their  own  experience,  the  causes 
which  decide  their  determinations. 

First,  in  certain  cases,  where  two  or  more  objects 
are  presented,  of  which  only  one  can  be  taken,  the  cause 
assigned  for  the  direction  of  the  choice  may  be  that  one 
excited  a  6tro7iger  desire  thmi  the  other.  A  vast  pro- 
portion of  human  volitions  are  decided  simply  by  the 
fact  that  one  object  seems  a  greater  good  or  excites  a 
stronger  desire  than  any  other,  and  is  thus  the  stron- 
gest motive. 

But  there  are  other  cases  where,  of  the  objects  pre- 
sented, one  excites  the  strongest  desire,  while  the  judg- 
ment perceives  that  another  will  secure  a  greater  good 
on  the  whole.  For  example,  in  case  of  a  sick  person, 
there  may  be  placed  a  favorite  drink  that  excites  a 
very  strong  desire,  and  beside  it  may  stand  a  nauseous 
medicine.  In  this  case,  the  invalid  may  feel  the 
strongest  desire  for  the  drink,  and  yet  choose  the  med- 
icine as  the  greater  good  in  its  final  results. 

In  such  cases,  what  decides  the  direction  of  a  voli- 
tion is  the  judgment  of  the  mind,  that  the  object 
chosen,  though  it  does  not  excite  the  strongest  desire, 
is  still  the  greater  good. 

Another  deciding  cause  of  volition  is  the  nature  of 
the  constitutional  susceptibilities.  For  example,  when 
it  is  asked  why  did  a  man  forsake  domestic  life  and 
become  a  soldier,  the  deciding  cause  may  be  that  he 
had  a  strong  constitutional  love  of  the  excitement  and 
glory  connected  with  that  profession,  and  but  little 
susceptibility  for  the  quiet  enjoyments  of  domestic  life. 


156  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

It  is  sometimes  the  case  that  a  child,  from  its  birth, 
seems  to  possess  a  natural  love  for  truth,  so  that  in- 
structions on  that  point  are  scarcely  needed.  In  an- 
other case,  in  the  same  family,  and  under  exactly  the 
same  training,  will  be  found  a  child  who  has  the  con- 
trary propensity,  so  that  it  costs  years  of  careful  train- 
ing to  form  a  principle  of  veracity.  The  same  consti- 
tutional variety  wiU  be  found  in  reference  to  other  vir- 
tues. 

Another  deciding  cause  of  volition  are  the  habits. 
The  existence  of  a  habit  of  obedience,  for  example,  will 
induce  the  formation  of  \drtuous  purposes  that  would 
never  have  existed  but  for  this.  A  child  who  began 
life  with  strong  propensities  to  certain  faults,  by  a  wise 
and  careful  training  may  secure  habits  that  are  fully 
equal  in  power  to  the  same  constitutional  traits  in  an- 
other child.  Often,  in  the  result,  it  can  not  be  seen 
whether  the  generic  purpose  to  be  truthful,  for  exam- 
ple, resulted  mainly  from  natural  constitution  or  from 
the  formation  of  habits. 

The  will  itself  also  is  more  or  less  regulated  by  this 
principle.  When  a  child  is  trained  constantly  to  sub- 
mit to  fixed  rules,  the  will  acquires  increased  ease  and 
facility  in  doing  it.  On  the  contrary,  a  mind  that  is 
never  controlled  grows  more  and  more  averse  to  yield- 
ing to  any  regulating  principle. 

Another  deciding  cause  of  volition  is  such  a  combi- 
nation of  circumstances  as  excites  one  class  of  desires, 
while  other  sensibilities  have  no  appropriate  objects  to 
stimulate  them. 

For  example,  it  may  be  asked.  Why  did  a  man  choose 
to  drink  and  gamble  ?     The  cause  assigned  may  be  the 


THE  WILL.  157 

presence  of  liquor  and  of  tempting  companions,  and  the 
want  of  objects  to  excite  higher  susceptibilities.  He 
had  no  wise  firiends,  no  business,  and  no  higher  sources 
of  enjoyment  immediately  around  him. 

Another  deciding  cause  of  volition  is  the  existence 
oi principle  or  gerieric  purjpose.  For  example,  it  may 
be  asked.  Why  did  a  man  choose  to  give  up  his  liberty 
and  property  when  he  could  have  secured  them  by  false 
testimony  ?  The  answer  may  be  that  he  was  a  truth- 
ful man  or  a  virtuous  man — that  is,  he  had  formed  a 
strong  generic  purpose  to  speak  the  truth  or  to  act 
right  on  all  occasions. 

Another  deciding  cause  of  volition  is  the  existence 
of  love  and  gratitude  toward  other  minds,  and  the  re- 
flex influence  of  such  minds  in  the  bestowal  of  their 
love,  sympathy,  teachings,  and  example. 

This  is  the  most  powerful  of  all  the  influences  which 
secure  and  sustain  generic  volitions,  as  will  be  illus- 
trated more  at  large  in  future  pages. 

Causes  that  regulate  the  Power  of  Generic  Volitions. 

The  next  inquiry  relates  to  the  causes  which  regu- 
late ih.Q  power  of  generic  volition. 

Among  those  causes,  the  most  prominent  is  that 
natural  force  of  will  which  is  strictly  constitutional. 
Some  minds  are  formed  by  the  Creator  with  great  en- 
ergy and  great  pertinacity  of  will,  so  that  when  a  pur- 
pose is  formed,  all  subordinate  volitions  needful  to  car- 
ry out  this  purpose  seem  easily  controlled.  Other 
minds,  on  the  contrary,  possess  a  naturally  feeble  will, 
so  that  no  generic  volition  has  a  strong  and  steady 
control,  but  is  constantly  interrupted  in  its  power  over 


158  THE  BIBLE  AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

subordinate  volitions,  or  is  easily  changed  by  conflict- 
ing desires. 

In  one  case  the  person  is  denominated  a  man  of  firm 
purpose  or  a  man  of  a  strong  will.  In  the  other  case 
he  is  called  a  man  of  yielding  temperament  or  a  weak 
character. 

The  remaining  causes  that  give  strength  to  a  gener- 
ic purpose  are  most  of  those  that  have  been  enumer- 
ated as  causes  of  the  direction  of  volition,  or  deciding 
causes.  These  are  the  constitutional  susceptibilities 
— the  habits — the  surrounding  circumstances — the  ex- 
istence of  love  and  gratitude  toward  other  minds,  and 
the  reflex  influence  of  such  minds  in  the  bestowal  of 
their  love,  sympathy,  teachings,  and  example. 

In  all  this  variety  of  influences  that  decide  those 
generic  volitions  which  are  the  foundation  of  moral 
character,  it  must  be  remembered  that  in  every  case 
the  mind  has  the  power  to  choose  that  which  the  judg- 
ment decides  to  be  the  greatest  good  on  the  whole  for 
itself  and  for  the  commonwealth. 

Sow  one  Mind  causes  Volitions  in  another  Mind. 

In  this  connection,  it  is  important  to  secure  exact 
ideas  of  what  is  meant  when  one  mind  is  spoken  of  as 
the  cause  of  the  volitions  of  another  mind. 

Of  course,  in  this  relation,  no  mind  can  be  the  pro- 
ducing cause  of  volition  in  any  mind  but  itself.  It 
must  be,  then,  either  as  occasional  or  as  deciding 
causes  that  we  can  influence  other  minds. 

The  only  mode  by  which  we  can  regulate  the  voli- 
tions of  other  minds  is  by  the  employinent  of  motives 
to  stimulate  desire,  or  by  changing  the  constitutional 
susceptibilities. 


THE   WILL.  159 

In  the  first  case,  men  have  power  to  so  combine  cir- 
cumstances of  temptation  as  to  affect  the  most  excita- 
ble and  powerful  sensibilities,  or  they  can  remove  those 
objects  and  influences  that  sustain  moral  principle,  or 
by  a  long  course  of  training  they  can  form  habits  and 
induce  principles.  The  combinations  of  motive  influ- 
ences that  one  mind  can  bring  to  bear  on  another,  as 
temptations  to  right  or  wrong  action,  are  almost  in- 
finite. 

The  other  mode  is  by  changing  the  constitutional 
susceptibilities.  This  can  sometimes  be  effected  to  a 
certain  degree  by  education  and  the  formation  of  hab- 
its. It  can  be  still  more  directly  effected  through  the 
physical  organization.  For  example,  a  child  may  be 
trained  to  use  coffee,  tea,  alcohol,  or  tobacco,  till  the 
nervous  system  is  shattered,  and  then  a  placid  temper 
becomes  excitable,  a  generous  nature  grows  sour  and 
selfish,  an  active  nature  becomes  indolent,  and  multi- 
tudes of  other  disastrous  changes  are  the  result. 

These  are  the  only  two  modes  in  which  one  mind 
is  ever  regarded  as  the  cause  of  right  or  wrong  voli- 
tion in  other  minds. 

On  a  Ruling  Purpose. 

The  most  important  of  all  the  voluntary  phenomena 
is  the  fact  that,  while  there  can  be  a  multitude  of  these 
quiet  and  hidden  generic  purposes  in  the  mind,  it  is 
also  possible  to  form  one  which  shall  be  the  dominant 
or  controlling  one,  to  which  all  the  other  volitions, 
both  generic  and  specific,  shall  become  subordinate. 
In  common  parlance,  this  would  be  called  the  riding 
passion.     It  may  also  be  called  the  ruling  purpose 


160  THE  BIBLE   AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

or  controlling  principle.  This  consists  in  the  perma- 
nent choice  of  some  one  mode  of  securing  happiness 
as  the  chief  end  or  grand  object  of  life. 

We  have  set  forth  on  preceding  pages  the  chief 
sources  of  happiness  and  of  suffering  to  the  human 
mind.  Now  in  the  history  of  our  race  we  find  that 
each  one  of  these  modes  of  enjoyment  have  been  se- 
lected by  different  individuals  as  the  chief  end  of 
their  existence — as  the  mode  of  seeking  enjoyment,  to 
which  they  sacrifice  every  other.  Some  persons  have 
chosen  the  pleasures  of  eating,  drinking,  and  the  other 
grosser  enjoyments  of  sense.  Others  have  chosen 
those  more  elevated  and  refined  pleasures  that  come 
indirectly  from  the  senses  in  the  emotions  of  taste. 

Others  have  devoted  themselves  to  intellectual  en- 
joyments as  their  chief  resource  for  happiness.  Oth- 
ers have  selected  the  exercise  of  physical  and  moral 
power,  as  in  the  case  of  conquerors  and  physical  he- 
roes, or  of  those  who  have  sought  to  control  by  moral 
power,  as  rulers  and  statesmen. 

Others  have  made  the  attainment  of  the  esteem,  ad- 
miration, and  love  of  their  fellow-creatures  their  chief 
end.  Others,  still,  have  devoted  themselves  to  the 
promotion  of  happiness  around  them  as  their  chief  in- 
terest. Others  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  serv- 
ice of  God,  or  what  they  conceived  to  be  such,  and 
sometimes  by  the  most  miserable  life  of  asceticism 
and  self-torture. 

Others  have  made  it  their  main  object  in  life  to  obey 
the  laws  of  rectitude  and  virtue. 

In  all  these  cases,  the  inoral  character  of  the  person, 
in  the  view  of  all  observers,  has  been  decided  by  this 


THE  WILL.  161 

dominant  volition,  and  exactly  in  proportion  to  the  su- 
premacy with  which  it  has  actually  controlled  all  oth- 
er purposes. 

Some  minds  seem  to  have  no  chief  end  of  life.  Their 
existence  is  a  succession  of  small  pui'poses,  each  of 
which  has  its  turn  in  controlling  the  life.  Others  have 
a  strong,  defined,  and  all-controlling  principle. 

Now  experience  shows  that  both  of  these  classes 
are  capable,  the  one  o^  forming  and  the  other  of  change 
ing  such  a  purpose.  For  example,  in  a  time  of  peace 
and  ease  there  is  little  to  excite  the  mind  strongly ; 
but  let  a  crisis  come  where  fortune,  reputation,  and 
life  are  at  stake,  and  men  and  women  are  obliged  to 
form  generic  decisions  involving  all  they  hold  dear, 
and  many  minds  that  have  no  controlHng  purpose  im- 
mediately originate  one,  while  those  whose  former  rul- 
ing aims  were  in  one  direction  change  them  entirely  to 
another. 

This  shows  how  it  is  that  days  of  peril  create  he- 
roes, statesmen,  and  strong  men  and  women.  The 
hour  of  danger  calls  all  the  energies  of  the  soul  into 
action.  Great  purposes  are  formed  with  the  strongest 
desire  and  emotion.  Instantly  the  whole  current  of 
thought,  and  all  the  co-existing  desires  and  emotions, 
are  conformed  to  these  purposes. 

The  experience  of  mankind  proves  that  a  dominant 
generic  purpose  may  extend  to  a  ivhole  life,  and  actu- 
ally control  all  other  generic  and  specific  volitions. 


162  THE   BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

Mode  of  Controlling  the  Intellect,  Desires,  and 
Emotions. 

We  will  now  consider  some  of  the  modes  by  wliich 
the  will  controls  the  intellect,  desires,  and  emotions. 

We  have  seen,  in  previous  pages,  the  influence  which 
desire  and  emotion  exert  in  making  both  our  percep- 
tions and  conceptions  more  vivid.  Whatever  pur- 
pose or  aim  in  life  becomes  an  object  of  strong  de- 
sire, is  always  distinctly  and  vividly  conceived,  while 
all  less  interesting  objects  are  more  faint  and  indis- 
tinct. 

We  have  also  seen  that  whenever  any  conception 
arises  it  always  brings  connected  objects,  according  to 
certain  laws  of  association,  forming  a  new  and  com- 
plex picture. 

Whenever  the  mind  is  under  the  influence  of  a  con- 
trolling purpose,  the  object  of  pursuit  is  always  more 
interesting  than  any  other.  This  interest  always  fast- 
ens on  those  particulars  in  any  mental  combination 
that  are  connected  with  the  ruling  purpose  and  seem 
fitted  to  promote  it,  making  them  more  vivid.  Around 
these  selected  objects  their  past  associated  ideas  begin 
to  cluster,  forming  other  complex  pictures.  In  all  these 
combinations,  those  ideas  most  consonant  with  the  lead- 
ing interest  of  the  mind  become  most  vivid,  and  the 
others  fade  away. 

The  grand  method,  then,  for  regulating  the  thoughts 
is  by  the  generic  decisions  of  the  mind  as  to  the  modes 
of  seeking  enjoyment. 

In  regard  to  the  power  of  the  mind  over  its  own 
desires  and  emotions,  it  is  very  clear  that  these  sensi- 


THE   WILL.  163 

bilities  can  not  be  regulated  by  direct  specific  volitions. 
Let  any  person  try  to  produce  love,  fear,  joy,  hope,  or 
gratitude  by  simply  choosing  to  have  them  arise,  and 
it  is  soon  perceived  that  no  such  power  exists. 

But  there  are  indirect  modes  by  which  the  mind  can 
control  its  susceptibilities.  The  first  method  is  by 
directing  attention  to  those  objects  of  thought  which 
are  fitted  to  call  forth  such  emotions.  For  example, 
if  we  wish  to  awaken  the  emotion  of  fear,  we  can  place 
ourselves  in  circumstances  of  danger,  or  call  up  ideas 
of  horror  and  distress.  If  we  wish  to  call  forth  emo- 
tions of  gratitude,  we  can  direct  attention  to  acts  of 
kindness  to  ourselves  calculated  to  awaken  such  feel- 
ings. If  we  wish  to  excite  desire  for  any  object,  we 
can  direct  attention  to  those  qualities  in  that  object 
that  are  calculated  to  excite  desire.  In  all  these  cases 
the  mind  can,  by  an  act  of  will,  dii'ect  its  attention  to 
subjects  calculated  to  excite  emotion  and  desire. 

The  other  mode  of  regulating  the  desires  and  emo- 
tions is  by  the  direction  of  our  generic  volitions.  For 
example,  let  a  man  of  business,  w^ho  has  never  had  any 
interest  in  commerce,  decide  to  invest  all  his  property 
in  foreign  trade.  As  soon  as  this  is  done,  the  name 
of  the  ship  that  bears  his  all  can  never  be  heard  or 
seen  but  it  excites  some  emotion.  A  storm,  that  before 
would  go  unnoticed,  awakens  fear ;  the  prices  in  the 
commercial  markets,  before  unheeded,  now  awaken 
fear  or  afibrd  pleasure.  And  thus  multitudes  of  va- 
ried desires  and  emotions  are  called  into  existence  by 
this  one  generic  volition. 

One  result  of  a  purpose  to  deny  an  importunate  pro- 
pensity is  frequently  seen  in  the  immediate  or  gradual 


164  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

diminution  of  that  desire.  For  example,  if  a  person 
is  satisfied  that  a  certain  article  of  food  is  injurious, 
and  resolves  on  total  ahstinence^  it  will  be  found  that 
the  desire  for  it  is  very  much  reduced,  far  more  so  than 
when  the  effort  is  to  diminish  the  indulgence. 

When  a  generic  purpose  is  formed  that  involves 
great  interests,  it  is  impossible  to  prevent  the  desires 
and  emotions  from  running  consonant  with  this  pur- 
pose. The  only  mode  of  changing  this  current  is  to 
give  up  this  generic  pui-pose  and  form  another.  Thus, 
if  a  man  has  devoted  his  whole  time  and  energies  to 
money-making,  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  prevent  his 
thoughts  and  feelings  from  running  in  that  direction. 
He  must  give  up  this  as  his  chief  end,  and  take  a  no- 
bler object,  if  he  would  elevate  the  whole  course  of  liis 
mental  action. 

These  are  the  principal  phenomena  of  the  grand 
mental  faculty  which  is  the  controlling  power  of  the 
mind,  and  on  the  regulation  of  which  all  its  other  pow- 
ers are  dependent. 


FAITH   OE  BELIEF.  165 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

FAITH    OR    BELIEF. 

We  have  shown  that  a  belief  in  the  reality  of  the 
existence,  hoth  of  mind  and  of  matter,  as  causes,  is  one 
of  the  implanted  principles  of  mind.  Some  philoso- 
phers have  claimed  that  there  is  nothing  in  existence 
but  mind,  and  that  all  that  is  called  matter  is  simply 
ideas  of  things  in  the  mind  itself,  for  which  there  is  no 
corresponding  reality.  Others  have  claimed  just  the 
opposite :  that  there  is  no  such  existence  as  an  imma- 
terial spirit,  but  that  soul  is  the  brain,  or  some  other 
very  fine  organization  of  matter. 

In  both  cases,  the  assumptions  not  only  have  no  ev- 
idence to  sustain  them,  but  are  contrary  to  the  common 
sense  or  reason  of  all  mankind,  and  never  can  be  really 
believed. 

"WYlqh  perceptions  are  called  into  existence  by  the 
agency  of  the  senses,  we  can  not  help  believing  that 
things  are  as  they  appear  to  us,  unless  we  have  some 
evidence  of  deception  either  from  disordered  sensation 
or  some  other  cause. 

But  in  regard  to  our  conceptions  we  have  two  class- 
es. One  class  is  attended  with  the  belief  that  they  cor- 
respond with  realities,  or  the  things  they  represent. 
The  other  class  is  not  attended  with  this  belief.  For 
example,  we  can  conceive  of  a  house  of  a  color,  form, 
and  details  such  as  we  never  saw,  and  this  conception 
is  not  attended  with  any  belief  of  the  reality  of  such 


166       THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

an  existence ;  but  when  we  conceive  of  the  home  of 
our  childhood,  this  conception  is  attended  with  a  be- 
lief of  the  reality  of  the  thing  conceived. 

This  illustration  furnishes  the  means  of  defining 
"M^^A"  as  "^Ae  reality  of  things.''''  We  conceive  the 
truth  when  our  conceptions  represent  correctly  the  real- 
ity of  things,  and  we  believe  the  truth  when  we  feel 
this  correspondence  to  exist.  We  believe  falsehood 
when  we  have  a  conception  attended  by  a  feeling  that 
it  represents  the  reality  of  things  when  it  does  not. 

All  our  comfort,  success,  and  happiness  depend  upon 
believing  the  truth ;  for  just  so  far  as  our  belief  or 
faith  varies  from  the  reality  of  things,  we  shall  meet 
with  mistakes,  disappointment,  and  sorrow. 

Our  beneficent  Creator  has  so  formed  our  minds  and 
our  bodies  that,  in  their  natural,  healthy  state,  our  J9^r- 
ceptions  correspond  with  the  reality  of  things  uniform- 
ly, while,  as  before  stated,  our  belief  or  faith  also  thus 
corresponds. 

It  is  very  rarely  the  case  that  disease  or  other  causes 
prevent  this  uniform  correct  perception  and  belief  in 
regard  to  all  things  that  come  within  the  reach  of  our 
own  senses. 

It  is  only  in  regard  to  that  knowledge  that  we  gain 
from  the  experience  and  testimony  of  others,  or  from 
the  process  of  reasoning,  that  we  become  liable  to  a 
false  belief. 

!Men  often  impart  their  conceptions  of  things  to  us, 
and  we  find  that  they  do  not  correspond  with  realities. 

We  also,  by  a  process  of  reasoning,  often  come  to 
conceptions  of  things,  and  a  belief  in  them,  which  we 
find  to  be  false. 


FAITH   OR   BELIEF.  167 

Evidence  may  be  defined  as  all  those  causes  which 
tend  to  produce  correct  ideas  of  truth  or  the  reality  of 
things. 

Inasmuch  as  we  find  by  experience  that  human  tes- 
timony and  the  process  of  reasoning  do  not  uniformly 
conduct  us  to  right  conceptions  of  realities,  we  find 
that  there  are  difierent  degxees  of  belief  according  to 
the  nature  of  the  evidence  presented. 

The  highest  kind  of  evidence  is  intuitive  knowl- 
edge, which  is  a  uniform  result  of  the  constitution  of 
mind  and  its  inevitable  circumstances.  This  is  called 
intuitive  knowledge  or  intuitive  belief. 

All  other  evidence  is  gained  by  experience  or  by 
reasoning.  The  experience  of  other  minds  we  gain  by 
testimony.     This  is  called  the  evidence  of  testimony. 

Belief  diifers  in  degrees  according  to  the  nature  and 
amount  of  evidence  perceived.  The  highest  kind  of 
evidence  produces  what  is  called  certainty.  It  is  the 
kind  which  is  felt  in  reference  to  the  intuitive  truths. 
There  are  all  degrees  of  faith,  from  the  highest  cer- 
tainty to  entire  incredulity  or  unbelief. 

This  fact  lays  the  foundation  for  a  distinction  in 
practical  matters  which  it  is  very  important  to  recog- 
nize. It  is  often  the  case  that  there  is  an  amount  of 
evidence  that  produces  a  conviction  which  rests  in  the 
mind,  but  does  not  produce  its  appropriate  j^^r^c^zcaZ 
result.  For  example,  a  man  in  feeble  health  has  read 
enough  on  the  subject  to  be  convinced  that  a  daily 
bath  in  cool  water  would  tend  to  restore  strength,  and 
yet  the  belief  does  not  secure  the  practice.  But  on  a 
review  of  the  books  which  produced  the  conviction,  or 
on  hearing  some  lecturer  on  health,  the  conviction  be- 


168  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

comes  more  powerful,  and  leads  to  a  corresponding 
practice. 

Now,  in  reference  to  the  fact  that  there  are  multi- 
tudes of  convictions  which  are  inoperative,  which,  if 
vividly  realized,  would  become  principles  of  action, 
there  is  a  distinction  made,  in  common  parlance,  be- 
tween a  dead  or  ideal  faith,  and  a  living  or  practical 
faith.  Still  more  is  this  distinction  recognized  in 
matters  of  religion,  as  will  be  hereafter  shown. 

The  question  whether  faith  or  belief  is  under  the 
control  of  the  will,  or  whether  it  is  necessary  and  inev- 
itable, is  one  of  very  great  importance  both  in  regard 
to  our  happiness  and  our  obligations. 

If  belief  is  not  under  the  control  of  the  will,  it  must 
be  because  either  the  mind  has  not  the  power  of  direct-^ 
ing  its  attention  to  evidence,  or  because  it  is  so  made 
that,  when  it  perceives  the  truth,  it  can  not  distinguish 
it  from  falsehood. 

In  regard  to  the  first  alternative,  the  control  which 
the  mind  has  over  its  own  train  of  thought  has  been 
definitely  pointed  out  and  described  in  the  articles  on 
attention  and  on  the  will.  It  appears  that  the  icill  is 
the  regulating  principle,  which  governs  all  mental  op- 
erations by  selecting  the  modes  of  happiness  which  the 
intellect  shall  be  employed  in  securing. '  Whatever 
mode  of  present  or  of  general  happiness  is  selected,  im- 
mediately all  conceptions  which  the  judgment  discerns 
as  having  a  fitness  for  accomplishing  this  object  be- 
come vivid  and  distinct,  and  recall  their  associate  con- 
ceptions. Thus  it  is  the  choice  of  any  mode  of  en- 
joyment by  the  will  which  determines  the  train  of 
thought. 


FAITH   OR  BELIEF.  169 

When,  therefore,  any  question  is  brought  up  which 
demands  attention  to  evidence,  if  the  mind  has  some 
desire  to  gratify,  and  the  intellect  discerns  that  the 
conviction  of  this  truth  -will  interfere  with  this  chosen 
plan  of  happiness,  the  will  refuses  attention  to  what  is 
not  in  consonance  with  the  leading  desire  of  the  mind. 
Where  conviction  of  any  truth  is  foreseen  to  interfere 
with  some  plan  of  enjoyment  akeady  chosen,  the  only 
way  by  which  attention  can  be  secured  is  by  exhibit- 
ing some  evil  that  will  follow  inattention  which  will 
more  than  counterbalance  the  good  to  be  gained.  In 
this  case,  the  mind  may  choose  to  attend,  and  run  the 
hazard  of  losing  the  particular  mode  of  enjo3mient 
sought  in  order  to  avoid  the  threatened  evil  from  inat- 
tention to  evidence. 

This  is  the  method  men  pursue  in  all  their  inter- 
course with  each  other.  They  find  that  their  fellow- 
men  are  unwillmg  to  believe  what  is  contrary  to  their 
own  wishes  and  plans.  But  when  they  determine  that 
belief  shall  be  secured,  they  contrive  various  modes  to 
make  it  appear  either  for  their  pleasure  or  their  inter- 
est to  attend  to  evidence,  or  else  they  exhibit  some 
evil  as  the  consequence  of  neglecting  attention. 

The  only  mode  by  which  mankind  are  induced  to 
give  their  thoughts  to  the  concerns  of  an  invisible 
world  is  by  awakening  then*  hopes  of  future  good  to  be 
secured,  or  by  stimulating  their  fears  of  future  evils. 
It  thus  appears,  from  the  laws  and  operations  of  the 
mind  of  which  every  person  is  conscious,  and  also  from 
the  conduct  and  recorded  experience  of  mankind,  that 
the  mind  has  the  power  of  directing  its  attention  to 
evidence. 

H 


170        THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

The  other  alternative  which  would  establish  the 
principle  that  belief  is  not  under  the  control  of  the 
will  is,  that  truth,  when  seen  by  the  mind,  can  not  be 
distinguished  from  falsehood.  But  this,  it  can  be  seen, 
involves  a  denial  of  the  principles  of  reason  and  com- 
mon sense.  It  is  saying  that  the  mind  may  have  the 
evidence  of  the  senses,  memory,  and  all  the  other 
principles  included  in  the  laws  of  reason,  and  yet  not 
believe  it ;  for  every  process  of  reasoning  is,  in  fact, 
exhibiting  evidence  either  of  the  senses,  memory,  or 
experience,  that  a  certain  truth  is  included  under  a  pri- 
mary truth. 

The  only  position  which  can  be  assumed  without 
denying  the  principles  of  reason  and  common  sense  is, 
that  belief,  according  to  the  laws  of  mind,  is  exactly 
according  to  the  ainount  of  evidence  to  which  the  mind 
gives  its  attention. 

In  order  to  belief,  then,  two  things  are  necessary, 
viz.,  evidence,  and  the  choice  of  the  onind  to  attend  to 
this  evidence.  When  both  of  these  are  attained,  the 
belief  of  truth  and  the  rejection  of  falsehood  are  inev- 
itable. 

The  influence  which  the  will  and  desires  have  upon 
our  belief  accounts  for  the  great  variety  of  opinions 
among  mankind  on  almost  every  subject  of  duty  and 
of  happiness. 

There  are  two  ways  in  which  the  desires  and  wishes 
regulate  belief.  In  the  first  place,  by  preventing  at- 
tention to  the  subject  which  would  lead  to  the  belief 
of  truths  that  are  inconsistent  with  the  leading  desires 
of  the  mind.  This,  in  a  great  measure,  will  account 
for  the  great  variety  of  religious  belief.     Keligion  is  a 


FAITH   OR   BELIEF.  171 

subject  wliich  is  felt  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  lead- 
ing desii'es  of  most  persons  who  are  interested  in  the 
pursuit  of  other  enjoyments  than  those  resulting  from 
obedience  to  God  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  be- 
nevolence and  piety.  It  is  a  subject,  therefore,  which 
receives  so  little  examination  that  opinions  in  regard 
to  it  are  adopted  with  trifling  attention. 

The  second  cause  of  variety  of  behef  is  the  effect 
wliich  desire  has  in  making  vivid  those  conceptions 
which  most  agree  with  the  leading  purpose  of  the 
mind.  When  the  mind  decides  to  examine  the  evi- 
dence on  any  subject,  if  the  decision  involves  questions 
which  have  a  bearing  on  some  favorite  purpose,  all  those 
arguments  which  are  most  consonant  with  the  desires 
appear  vivid  and  clear,  and  those  which  are  contrary  to 
the  wishes  are  fainter  and  less  regarded.  This  is  a 
fact  which  universal  experience  demonstrates.  Men 
always  fasten  on  evidence  which  favors  their  own 
wishes,  and  but  faintly  conceive  the  evidence  which  is 
opposed.  This  is  a  cause  which  operates  most  pow- 
erfully in  regard  to  religious  truths  whenever  they  in- 
terfere with  the  leading  desires. 

This  view  of  the  subject  exhibits  the  importance  of 
having  the  mind  directed  to  proper  objects  ;  for  if  the 
mind  is  earnestly  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  duty,  it 
will  be  pleased  with  every  development  of  truth,  for 
truth  and  duty  are  never  found  to  interfere.  Tinith 
is  another  name  for  "things  as  they  are,"  and  it  is  al- 
ways the  duty  and  happiness  of  man  to  regulate  his 
conduct  by  seeing  things  as  they  are,  rather  than  by 
seeing  them  in  false  relations.  That  man  is  best  pre- 
pared to  discover  truth  who  is  most  sincerely  desirous 


172       THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

to  obtain  it,  and  to  regulate  his  feelings,  words,  and 
conduct  by  its  dictates. 

There  is  nothing  more  obvious,  from  experience  and 
observation,  than  that  men  feel  their  ability  to  control 
their  belief,  and  realize  both  their  own  obligations  and 
those  of  their  fellow-men  on  this  subject.  They  loiow 
that  every  man  must  act  according  to  his  belief  of  right 
and  wrong,  and  thus  that  the  fulfillment  of  every  duty 
depends  upon  the  nature  of  our  belief.  And  the  more 
important  are  the  interests  involved  in  any  question, 
the  more  men  perceive  their  obligations  to  seek  for  ev- 
idence, and  obtain  the  knowledge  necessary  to  ena- 
ble them  to  judge  correctly. 

The  estimation  of  guilt  among  mankind,  in  reference 
to  wrong  belief,  is  always  proportioned  to  the  inter- 
ests involved  and  the  opportunities  for  obtaining 
knowledge.  In  the  minute  affairs  of  life,  where  but 
little  evil  is  done  from  false  judgments,  but  little  blame 
is  attached  to  a  man  for  believing  wrong.  Neither  is 
a  man  severely  judged  if  the  necessary  knowledge  was 
inaccessible  or  very  difficult  to  be  obtained. 

But  where  a  man  has  great  interests  committed  to 
his  keeping,  and  has  sufficient  opportunity  for  obtain- 
ing evidence  of  truth,  the  severest  condemnation  awaits 
him  who,  through  inattention  or  prejudice,  hazards 
vast  interests  by  an  incorrect  belief.  If  an  agent  has 
the  charge  of  great  investments,  and  through  negli- 
gence, or  indolence,  or  prejudics  ruins  his  employer, 
his  sincere  belief  is  no  protection  from  severe  condem- 
nation. If  the  physician  has  the  health  and  life  of  a 
valued  member  of  the  community  and  the  object  of 
many  affections  intrusted  to  his  skill,  and  from  negli- 


FAITH   OR   BELIEF.  173 

gence  and  inattention  destroys  the  life  he  was  appoint- 
ed to  save,  his  sincere  behef  is  but  a  small  palliation 
of  his  guilt.  If  a  judge  has  the  fortune  and  life  of  his 
fellow-citizens  intrusted  to  his  judicial  knowledge  and 
integrity,  and,  through  want  of  care  and  attention,  is 
guilty  of  flagrant  injustice  and  evil,  the  plea  of  wrong 
belief  will  not  protect  him  from  the  impeachment  and 
just  indignation  which  await  such  delinquencies. 

There  is  no  point  where  men  are  more  tenacious  of 
the  obligations  of  their  fellow-creatures  than  on  the 
subject  of  belief.  If  they  iind  themselves  calumni- 
ated, unjustly  dealt  with,  and  treated  with  contempt 
and  scorn  from  prejudice  or  want  of  attention,  the  real- 
ity of  belief  is  little  palliation  of  the  guilt  of  those  who 
thus  render  them  injustice.  They  feel  the  obligations 
of  their  fellow-men  to  hnow  the  truth  in  all  that  re- 
lates to  their  interests,  honor,  and  good  name ;  and 
often  there  is  scarcely  any  thing  which  it  is  so  difficult 
to  forgive  as  the  simple  crime  of  wrong  belief. 

The  only  modes  by  which  men  attempt  to  justify 
themselves  for  guilt  of  this  nature  are  to  show  either 
that  the  matter  was  of  small  consequence,  or  that  the 
means  of  learning  its  importance  and  of  obtaining  the 
other  necessary  information  was  not  within  reach. 

It  may  be  laid  down,  then,  as  a  long-established  ax- 
iom in  regard  to  tliis  subject,  that  men  estimate  the 
guilt  of  wrong  belief  in  all  matters  relating  to  the  wel- 
fare of  mankind  in  exact  proportion  to  the  value  of  the 
interests  involved,  and  to  the  opportunities  enjoyed  for 
obtaining  information. 

Inasmuch  as  all  our  success  and  happiness  depends 
upon  our  belief  of  the  truth,  we  have  two  of  the  prin- 


174  THE  BIBLE  AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

ciples  of  reason  and  common  sense  to  guide  us.  The 
first  is,  that  we  are  to  consider  that  to  be  right  which 
has  the  halance  of  evidence  in  its  favor ;  and  the  sec- 
ond is,  that  nothing  is  to  be  assumed  as  true  unless 
there  is  some  evidence  that  it  is  so. 


CONSTITUTIONAL   VARIETIES    OF  MIND.  175 


CHAPTER  XX. 

CONSTITUTIONAL   VAEIETIES   OF   THE   HUMAN   MIND. 

'  In  the  preceding  chapters  have  "been  presented  the 
most  important  mental  faculties  which  are  common  to 
tlie  race.  There  are  none  of  the  powers  and  atti'ibutes 
of  the  mind  as  yet  set  forth  which  do  not  belong  to  ev- 
ery mind  which  is  regarded  as  rational  and  complete. 

But,  though  all  the  race  have  these  in  common,  yet 
we  can  not  but  observe  an  almost  endless  variety  of 
human  character,  resulting  from  the  diverse  j^'^^jpor- 
tions  and  cotnbinations  of  these  several  faculties. 

These  constitutional  differences  may  be  noticed,  first, 
in  regard  to  the  intellectual  powers.  Some  minds  are 
naturally  predisposed  to  exercise  the  reasoning  pow- 
ers. Others,  with  precisely  the  same  kind  of  culture, 
have  little  relish  for  this,  and  little  power  of  appreci- 
ating an  argument. 

In  other  cases,  the  imagination  seems  to  be  the  pre- 
dominating faculty.  In  other  minds  there  seems  to 
be  an  equal  balance  of  faculties,  so  that  no  particular 
power  predominates. 

Next  we  see  the  same  variety  in  reference  to  the 
susceptibilities.  In  some  minds,  the  desire  for  love 
and  admiration  is  the  predominating  principle.  In 
others,  the  love  of  power  takes  the  lead.  Some  are 
eminently  sympathizing.  Others  have  a  strong  love 
of  rectitude,  or  natural  conscience.    In  some,  the  prin- 


176  THE    BIBLE   AND    THE    PEOPLE. 

ciple  of  justice  predominates.     In  others,  benevolence 
is  the  leading  impulse. 

Finally,  in  regard  to  the  power  of  volition,  as  has 
been  before  indicated,  there  are  some  that  possess  a 
strong  will  that  is  decisive  and  effective  in  regulating 
all  specific  volitions,  while  others  possess  various  and 
humbler  measures  of  this  power. 

According  to  the  science  of  Phrenology,  some  of  these 
peculiarities  of  mind  are  indicated  by  the  size  and 
shape  of  different  portions  of  the  brain,  and  externally 
indicated  on  the  skull. 

That  these  differences  are  constitutional,  and  not 
the  result  of  education,  is  clear  from  the  many  facts 
showing  that  no  degree  of  care  or  training  w^ill  serve  to 
efface  these  distinctive  traits  of  the  mind.  To  a  cer- 
tain degree  they  may  be  modified  by  education,  and 
the  equal  balance  of  the  faculties  be  promoted,  but 
never  to  such  a  degree  as  to  efface  very  marked  pe- 
culiarities. 

In  addition  to  the  endless  diversities  that  result 
from  these  varied  proportions  and  combinations,  there 
is  a  manifest  variety  in  the  grades  of  mind.  Some 
races  are  much  lower  in  the  scale  of  being  every  way 
than  others,  while  the  same  disparity  exists  in  indi- 
viduals of  the  same  race. 

The  w^isdom  and  benevolence  of  this  arrangement  is 
very  manifest  when  viewed  in  reference  to  the  interests 
of  a  commonwealth.  Where  some  must  lead  and  oth- 
ers follow,  it  is  well  that  some  have  the  love  of  power 
strong,  and  others  have  it  less.  Where  some  must  be 
rulers,  to  inflict  penalties  as  well  as  to  apportion  re- 
wards, it  is  well  that  there  be  some  who  have  the 


CONSTITUTIONAL  VARIETIES   OF  MIND.  177 

sense  of  justice  a  leading  principle.  And  so  in  the 
developments  of  intellect.  Some  men  are  to  follow 
callings  where  the  reasoning  powers  are  most  needed. 
Others  are  to  adopt  pursuits  in  which  taste  and  imagi- 
nation are  chiefly  required ;  and  thus  the  varied  pro- 
portions of  these  faculties  become  serviceable. 

And  if  it  be  true  that  the  exercise  of  the  social  and 
moral  faculties  secures  the  highest  degrees  of  enjoy- 
ment, those  disparities  in  mental  powers  which  give 
exercise  to  the  virtues  of  compassion,  self-denial,  for- 
titude, and  benevolence  in  serving  the  weak,  and  the 
corresponding  exercises  of  gratitude,  reverence,  humil- 
ity, and  devotion  in  those  who  are  thus  benefited,  then 
we  can  see  the  wisdom  and  benevolence  of  this  grada- 
tion of  mental  capacity. 

Moreover,  in  a  commonwealth  perfectly  organized, 
where  the  happiness  of  the  whole  becomes  that  of  each 
part,  whatever  tends  to  the  highest  general  good  tends 
to  the  best  interest  of  each  individual  member.  This 
being  so,  the  lowest  and  humblest  in  the  scale  of  be- 
ing, in  his  appropriate  place,  is  happier  than  he  could 
be  by  any  other  arrangement,  and  happier  than  he 
could  be  if  all  were  equally  endowed. 
H2 


178  THE   BIBLE  AND   THE   PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

HABIT. 

Habit  is  a  facility  in  performing  physical  or  mental 
operations,  gained  by  the  repetition  of  such  acts.  As 
examples  of  this  in  physical  operations  may  be  men- 
tioned the  power  of  walking,  which  is  acquired  only 
by  a  multitude  of  experiments  ;  the  power  of  speech, 
secured  by  a  slow  process  of  repeated  acts  of  imita- 
tion ;  and  the  power  of  writing,  gained  in  the  same 
way.  Success  in  every  pursuit  of  life  is  attained  by 
oft-repeated  attempts,  which  finally  induce  a  habit. 

As  examples  of  the  formation  of  iritellectual  habits 
may  be  mentioned  the  facility  gained  in  acquiring 
knowledge  by  means  of  repeated  efforts,  and  the  accu- 
racy and  speed  with  which  the  process  of  reasoning  is 
performed  after  long  practice  in  this  art. 

As  examples  of  'moral  habits  may  be  mentioned 
those  which  are  formed  by  the  oft-repeated  exercise  of 
self-government,  justice,  veracity,  obedience,  and  in- 
dustry. The  will,  as  has  been  shown,  gains  a  facility 
in  controlling  specific  volitions  and  in  yielding  obe- 
dience to  the  laws  of  right  action  by  constant  use,  as 
much  as  all  the  other  mental  powers. 

The  happiness  of  man  in  the  present  state  of  exist- 
ence depends  not  so  much  upon  the  circumstances  in 
which  he  is  placed,  or  the  capacities  with  which  he  is 
endowed,  as  upon  the  formation  of  his  habits.  A 
man  might  have  the  organ  of  sight,  and  be  surrounded 


HABIT.  179 

with  all  the  beauties  of  nature,  and  yet,  if  he  did  not 
form  the  habit  of  judging  of  the  form,  distance,  and 
size  of  bodies,  most  of  the  pleasure  and  use  from  this 
sense  would  be  wanting.  The  world  and  all  its  beau- 
ties would  be  a  mere  confused  mass  of  colors. 

If  the  habits  of  walking  and  of  speech  were  not  ac- 
quired, these  faculties  and  the  circumstances  for  em- 
ploying them  would  not  furnish  the  enjoyment  they 
were  designed  to  secure. 

It  is  the  formation  of  intellectual  habits  by  mental 
discipline  and  study,  also,  which  opens  vast  resources 
for  enjoyment  that  otherwise  would  be  forever  closed. 
And  it  is  by  practicing  obedience  to  parents  that  inor- 
al  habits  of  subordination  are  formed,  which  are  indis- 
pensable to  our  happiness  as  citizens,  and  as  subjects 
of  the  divine  government.  There  is  no  enjoyment 
which  can  be  pointed  out  which  is  not,  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent,  dependent  upon  this  principle. 

The  influence  of  habit  in  regard  to  the  law  ofsacri- 
fice  is  especially  interesting.  The,  experience  of  mul- 
titudes of  our  race  shows  that  such  tastes  and  habits 
may  be  formed  in  obeying  this  law,  that  what  was  once 
difficult  and  painful  becomes  easy  and  pleasant. 

But  this  ability  to  secure  enjoyment  through  habits 
of  self-control  and  self-denial,  induced  by  long  practice, 
so  far  as  experience  shows,  could  never  be  secured  by 
any  other  method. 

That  the  highest  kinds  of  happiness  are  to  be  pur- 
chased by  more  or  less  voluntary  sacrifice  and  suffer'- 
hig  to  procure  good  for  others  seems  to  be  a  part  of 
that  nature  of  things  which  we  at  least  may  suppose 
has  existed  from  eternity.     We  can  conceive  of  the 


180  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

eternal  First  Cause  only  as  we  imagine  a  mind  on  the 
same  pattern  as  our  own  in  constitutional  capacities, 
but  indefinitely  enlarged  in  extent  and  action.  Knowl- 
edge, wisdom,  power,  justice,  benevolence,  and  recti- 
tude must  be  the  same  in  the  Creator  as  in  ourselves, 
at  least  so  far  as  we  can  conceive ;  and,  as  the  practice 
of  self-sacrifice  and  suffering  for  the  good  of  others  is 
our  highest  conception  of  virtue,  it  is  impossible  to  re- 
gard the  Eternal  ]\Iind  as  all-perfect  without  involving 
this  idea. 

The  formation  of  the  habits  depends  chiefly  upon 
the  leading  desire  or  governing  purpose,  because  what- 
ever the  mind  desii-es  the  most  it  will  act  the  most  to 
secure,  and  thus  by  repeated  acts  will  form  its  habits. 
The  character  of  every  individual,  therefore,  as  before 
indicated,  depends  upon  the  mode  of  seeking  happiness 
selected  by  the  will.  Thus  the  ambitious  man  has  se- 
lected the  attainment  of  power  and  admiration  as  his 
leading  purpose,  and  v,diatever  modes  of  enjoyment  in- 
terfere with  this  are  sacrificed.  The  sensual  man 
seeks  his  happiness  from  the  various  gratifications  of 
sense,  and  sacrifices  other  modes  of  enjoyment  that  in- 
terfere with  this.  The  man  devoted  to  intellectual 
pursuits,  and  to  seeking  reputation  and  influence 
through  this  medium,  sacrifices  other  modes  of  enjoy- 
ment to  secure  this  gTatification.  The  man  who  has 
devoted  his  affections  and  the  service  of  his  life  to 
God  and  the  good  of  his  fellow-men  sacrifices  all  oth- 
er enjoyments  to  secure  that  which  results  from  the 
fulfillment  of  such  obligations.  Thus  a  person  is  an 
ambitious  man,  a  sensual  man,  a  man  of  literaiy  am- 
bition, or  a  man  of  piety  and  benevolence,  accord- 


HABIT.  181 

ing  to  the  governing  purpose  or  leading  desire  of  the 
mind. 

There  is  one  fact  in  regard  to  the  choice  of  the  lead- 
ing object  of  desire,  or  the  governing  purpose  of  life, 
which  is  very  important.  Certain  modes  of  enjoy- 
ment, in  consequence  of  repetition,  increase  the  desire, 
but  lessen  the  capacity  of  happiness  from  this  source ; 
while,  in  regard  to  others,  gratification  increases  the 
desire,  and  at  the  same  time  increases  the  capacity  for 
enjoyment. 

The  enjoyments  through  the  senses  are  of  the  first 
kind.  It  will  be  found,  as  a  matter  of  universal  expe- 
rience, that  where  this  has  been  chosen  as  the  main 
purpose  of  life,  though  the  desire  for  such  pleasures  is 
continually  increased,  yet,  owing  to  the  physical  effects 
of  excessive  indulgence,  the  capacity  for  enjoyment  is 
decreased.  Thus  the  man  who  so  degrades  his  nature 
as  to  make  the  pleasures  of  eating  and  drinking  the 
great  pursuit  of  life,  while  his  desires  never  abate, 
finds  his  zest  for  such  enjoyments  continually  de- 
creasing, and  a  perpetual  need  for  new  devices  to  stim- 
ulate appetite  and  awaken  the  dormant  capacities. 
The  pleasures  of  sense  always  pall  from  repetition — 
grow  "  stale,  flat,  and  unprofitable,"  though  the  de- 
luded being  who  has  slavishly  yielded  to  such  appe- 
tites feels  himself  bound  by  chains  of  habit,  which, 
even  when  enjoyment  ceases,  seldom  are  broken. 

The  pleasures  derived  from  the  exercise  of  power, 
when  its  attainment  becomes  the  master  passion,  are 
also  of  this  description.  The  statesman,  the  politician, 
the  conqueror,  are  all  seeking  for  this,  and  desire  nev- 
er abates  while  any  thing  of  the  kind  remains  to  be 


182  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

attained.  We  do  not  find  that  enjoyment  increases 
in  proportion  as  power  is  secured.  On  the  contrary, 
it  seems  to  cloy  in  possession.  Alexander,  the  con- 
queror of  the  world,  when  he  had  gained  all,  Avept  that 
objects  of  desire  were  extinct,  and  that  possession 
could  not  satisfy. 

But  there  are  other  sources  of  happiness,  which, 
while  sought,  the  desire  ever  continues,  and  possession 
only  increases  the  capacity  for  enjoyment.  Of  this 
class  is  the  susceptibility  of  happiness  from  giving  and 
receiving  affection.  Here,  the  more  is  given  and  re- 
ceived, the  more  is  the  power  of  giving  and  receiving 
increased.  AVe  find  that  this  principle  outlives  every 
other,  and  even  the  decays  of  nature  itself.  When 
tottering  age  on  the  borders  of  the  grave  is  just  ready 
to  resign  its  wasted  tenement,  often  from  its  dissolving 
ashes  the  never-dying  spark  of  affection  has  burst 
forth  with  new  and  undiminished  lustre.  This  is  that 
immortal  fountain  of  happiness  always  increased  by 
imparting,  never  surcharged  by  receiving. 

Another  principle  which  increases  both  desire  and 
capacity  by  exercise  is  the  powder  of  enjoyment  from 
being  the  cause  of  hajopiness  to  others.  Never  w^as 
an  instance  known  of  regret  for  devotion  to  the  liappi- 
ness  of  otliers.  On  the  contrary,  the  more  this  holy 
and  delightful  principle  is  in  exercise,  the  more  the  de- 
sires are  increased,  and  the  more  are  the  susceptibili- 
ties for  enjoyment  from  this  source  enlarged.  While 
the  votaries  of  pleasure  are  wearing  down  with  the  ex- 
haustion of  abused  nature,  and  the  votaries  of  ambi- 
tion are  sighing  over  its  thorny  wreath,  the  benevolent 
spirit  is  exulting  in  the  success  of  its  plans  of  good, 


HABIT.  183 

and  reaching  forth  to  still  purer  and  more  accomplish- 
ed bliss. 

This  principle  is  especially  true  in  regard  to  the 
practice  of  rectitude.  The  more  the  leading  aim  of  the 
mind  is  devoted  to  right  feeling  and  action^  or  to  obe- 
dience to  all  the  laws  of  God,  the  more  both  the  desire 
and  the  capacity  of  enjoyment  from  this  source  are  in- 
creased. 

But  there  is  another  fact  in  regard  to  habit  which 
has  an  immense  bearing  on  the  well-being  of  our  race. 
When  a  habit  of  seeking  happiness  in  some  one  partic- 
ular mode  is  once  formed,  the  change  of  this  habit  be- 
comes difficult  just  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  rep- 
etition which  has  been  practiced.  A  habit  once  form- 
ed, it  is  no  longer  an  easy  matter  to  choose  between 
the  mode  of  securing  happiness  chosen  and  another 
which  the  mind  may  be  led  to  regard  as  much  supe- 
rior. Thus,  in  gratifying  the  appetite,  a  man  may  feel 
that  his  happiness  is  continually  diminishing,  and  that, 
by  sacrificing  this  passion,  he  may  secure  much  great- 
er enjoyment  from  another  source ;  yet  the  force  of 
habit  is  such  that  decisions  of  the  will  perpetually 
yield  to  its  power. 

Thus,  also,  if  a  man  has  found  his  chief  enjoyment  in 
that  admiration  and  applause  of  men  so  ardently  de- 
sired, even  after  it  has  ceased  to  charm,  and  seems 
like  emptiness  and  vanity,  still,  when  nobler  objects 
of  pursuit  are  offered,  the  chains  of  habit  bind  him  to 
his  wonted  path.  Though  he  looks  and  longs  for  the 
one  that  his  conscience  and  his  intellect  assure  him  is 
brightest  and  best,  the  conflict  with  bad  habit  ends  in 
fatal  defeat  and  ruin.     It  is  true  that  every  habit  can 


184  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE    PEOPLE. 

be  corrected  and  changed,  but  nothing  requires  greater 
firmness  of  purpose  and  energy  of  will ;  for  it  is  not 
07ie  resolution  of  mind  that  can  conquer  habit :  it  must 
be  a  constant  series  of  long-continued  efforts. 

The  influence  of  habit  in  reference  to  emotions  de- 
serves special  attention  as  having  a  direct  influence 
upon  character  and  happiness.  All  pleasurable  emo- 
tions of  mind,  being  grateful,  are  indulged  and  cher- 
ished, and  are  not  weakened  by  repetition  unless  they 
become  excessive.  If  the  pleasures  of  sense  are  in- 
dulged beyond  a  certain  extent,  the  bodily  system  is 
exhausted,  and  satiety  is  the  consequence.  If  the  love 
of  power  and  admiration  is  indulged  to  excess,  so  as  to 
become  the  leading  purpose  of  life,  they  are  found  to  be 
cloying.  But  within  certain  limits  all  pleasurable  emo- 
tions do  not  seem  to  lessen  in  power  by  repetition. 

But  in  regard  to  painful  emotions  the  reverse  is  true. 
The  mind  instinctively  resists  or  flies  from  them,  so 
that  after  a  habit  of  suppressing  such  emotions  is 
formed,  until  the  susceptibility  diminishes,  and  some- 
times appears  almost  entirely  destroyed.  Thus  a  per- 
son often  exposed  to  danger  ceases  to  be  troubled  by 
fear,  because  he  forms  a  habit  of  suppressing  it.  A 
person  frequently  in  scenes  of  distress  and  suffering 
learns  to  suppress  the  emotions  of  painful  sympathy. 
The  surgeon  is  an  example  of  the  last  case,  where,  by 
repeated  operations,  he  has  learned  to  suppress  emo- 
tions until  they  seldom  recur.  A  person  inured  to 
guilt  gradually  deadens  the  pangs  of  remorse,  until 
the  conscience  becomes  "  seared  as  with  a  hot  iron." 
Thus,  also,  with  the  emotion  of  shame.  After  a  per- 
son has  been  repeatedly  exposed  to  contempt,  and  feels 


HABIT.  185 

that  he  is  universally  despised,  he  grows  callous  to 
any  such  emotions. 

The  mode  by  which  the  mind  succeeds  in  forming 
such  a  habit  seems  to  be  by  that  implanted  principle 
which  makes  ideas  that  are  most  in  consonance  with 
the  leading  desire  of  the  mind  become  vivid  and  dis- 
tinct, while  those  that  are  less  interesting  fade  away. 
Now  no  person  desires  to  witness  pain  except  from 
the  hope  of  relieving  it,  unless  it  be  that,  in  anger,  the 
mind  is  sometimes  gratified  with  the  infliction  of  suf- 
fering. But,  in  ordinary  cases,  the  sight  of  suffering 
is  avoided  except  where  relief  can  be  administered.  In 
such  cases,  the  desire  of  administering  relief  becomes 
the  leading  one,  so  that  the  mind  is  turned  off  from 
the  view  of  the  suffering  to  dwell  on  conceptions  of 
modes  of  relief.  Thus  the  surgeon  and  physician 
gradually  form  such  habits  that  the  sight  of  pain  and 
suffering  lead  the  mind  to  conception  of  modes  of  re- 
lief, whereas  a  mind  not  thus  interested  dwells  on  the 
more  painful  ideas. 

The  mind,  also,  can  form  a  habit  of  inattention  to 
our  own  bodily  sufferings  by  becoming  interested  in 
other  things,  and  thus  painful  sensations  go  unnoticed. 
Some  persons  will  go  for  years  with  a  chronic  head- 
ache, and  yet  appear  to  enjoy  nearly  as  much  as  those 
who  never  suffer  from  such  a  cause.  Again :  those 
who  violate  conscience  seem  to  relieve  themselves 
from  suffering  by  forming  a  habit  of  dwelUng  on  other 
themes,  and  of  turning  the  mind  entirely  from  those 
obligations  which,  when  contemplated,  would  upbraid 
and  pain  them.  Thus,  too,  the  sense  of  shame  is 
lost.     A  habit  is  formed  of  leading  the  mind  from 


186  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE    PEOPLE. 

whatever  pains  it  to  dwell  on  more  pleasurable  con- 
templations. 

The  habits  of  life  are  all  formed  either  from  the  de- 
sire to  secure  happiness  or  to  avoid  pain,  and  the  fear 
of  suffering  is  found  to  be  a  much  more  powerful  prin- 
ciple than  the  desire  of  hapjphiess.  The  soul  flies 
from  pain  with  all  its  energies,  even  when  it  will  be 
inert  at  the  sight  of  promised  joy.  As  an  illustration 
of  this,  let  a  person  be  fully  convinced  that  the  gift  of 
two  new  senses  v/ould  confer  as  great  an  additional 
amount  of  enjoyment  as  is  now  secured  by  the  eye 
and  ear,  and  the  promise  of  this  future  good  would 
not  stimulate  with  half  the  energy  that  would  be 
caused  by  the  threat  of  instant  and  entire  blindness 
and  deafness. 

If,  then,  the  mind  is  stimulated  to  form  good  habits 
and  to  avoid  the  formation  of  evil  ones  most  power- 
fully by  painful  emotions,  when  their  legitimate  object 
is  not  effected  they  continually  decrease  in  vividness, 
and  the  designed  benefit  is  lost.  If  a  man  is  placed 
in  circumstances  of  danger,  and  fear  leads  to  habits  of 
caution  and  carefulness,  the  object  of  exciting  this 
emotion  is  accomplished,  and  the  diminution  of  it  is  at- 
tended with  no  eviL  But  if  fear  is  continually  ex- 
cited, and  no  such  habits  are  formed,  then  the  suscep- 
tibility is  lessened,  while  the  good  to  be  secured  by 
it  is  lost.  So,  also,  with  emotions  of  sympathy.  If 
we  witness  pain  and  suffering,  and  it  induces  habits 
of  active  devotion  to  the  good  of  those  who  suffer,  the 
diminution  of  the  susceptibility  is  a  blessing  and  no 
evil.  But  if  we  simply  indulge  emotions,  and  do  not 
form  the  habits  they  were  intended  to  secure,  the  pow- 


HABIT.  187 

er  of  sympathy  is  weakened,  and  the  designed  benefit 
is  lost.  Thus,  again,  with  shame :  if  this  painful  emo- 
tion does  not  lead  us  to  form  habits  of  honor  and  rec- 
titude, it  is  continually  weakened  by  repetition,  and 
the  object  for  which  it  was  bestowed  is  not  secured. 
And  so  with  remorse:  if  this  emotion  is  awakened 
without  leading  to  habits  of  benevolence  and  virtue,  it 
constantly  decays  in  power,  and  the  good  it  would  have 
secured  is  forever  lost. 

It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  the  power  of  emo- 
tion in  the  soul  is  thus  destroyed.  Nothing  is  done 
but  to  form  habits  of  inattention  to  painful  emotions 
by  allowing  the  mind  to  be  engrossed  in  other  and 
more  pleasurable  subjects.  This  appears  from  the 
fact  that  the  most  hardened  culprits,  when  brought  to 
the  hour  of  death,  where  all  plans  of  future  good  cease 
to  charm  the  mental  eye,  are  often  overwhelmed  with 
the  most  vivid  emotions  of  sorrow,  shame,  remorse, 
and  fear.  And  often,  in  the  course  of  life,  there  are 
seasons  when  the  soul  returns  from  its  pursuit  of  de- 
luding visions  to  commune  with  itself  in  its  own  secret 
chambers.  At  such  seasons,  shame,  remorse,  and  fear 
take  up  their  abode  in  their  long-deserted  dwelling, 
and  ply  their  scorpion  whips  till  they  are  obeyed, 
and  the  course  of  honor  and  virtue  is  resumed,  or  till 
the  distracted  spirit  again  flies  abroad  for  comfort  and 
relief. 

There  is  a  great  diversity  in  human  character,  result- 
ing from  the  diverse  proportions  and  combinations  of 
those  powers  of  mind  which  the  race  have  in  common. 
At  the  same  time,  there  is  a  variety  in  the  scale  of  be- 
ing, or  relative  grade  of  each  mind.     "While  all  are 


188  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE    PEOPLE. 

alike  in  the  common  faculties  of  the  human  mind,  some 
have  every  faculty  on  a  much  larger  scale  than  others, 
while  some  are  of  a  very  humble  grade. 

The  principle  of  habit  has  very  great  influence  in 
modifying  and  changing  these  varieties.  Thus,  by 
forming  habits  of  intellectual  exercise,  a  mind  of  nat- 
urally humble  proportions  can  be  elevated  considera- 
bly above  one  more  highly  endowed  by  natural  consti- 
tution. So  the  training  of  some  particular  intellectual 
faculty,  which  by  nature  is  deficient,  can  bring  it  up 
nearer  to  the  level  of  other  powers  less  disciplined  by 
exercise. 

In  like  manner,  the  natural  susceptibilities  can  be 
increased,  diminished,  or  modified  by  habit.  Certain 
tastes,  that  had  little  power,  can  be  so  cultivated  as  to 
overtop  all  others. 

So  of  the  moral  nature :  it  can  be  so  exercised  that 
a  habit  will  be  formed  which  will  generate  a  strength 
and  prominency  that  nature  did  not  impart. 

The  w411  itself  is  also  subject  to  this  same  princi- 
ple. A  strong  will,  that  is  trained  to  yield  obedience 
to  law  in  early  life,  acquires  an  ease  and  facility  in  do- 
ing it  which  belongs  ordinarily  to  weak  minds,  and  yet 
can  retain  all  its  vigor.  And  a  mind  tliat  is  trained  to 
bring  subordinate  volitions  into  strict  and  ready  obe- 
dience to  a  generic  purpose,  acquu'cs  an  ease  and  facil- 
ity in  doing  this  which  was  not  a  natural  endowment. 

Thus  it  appears  that  by  the  principle  of  habit  every 
mind  is  furnished  with  the  power  of  elevating  itself  in 
the  scale  of  being,  and  of  modifying  and  perfecting 
the  proportions  and  combinations  of  its  constitutional 
powers. 


HABIT.  189 

And  sometimes  the  result  is  that  there  is  no  mode 
of  distinguishing  between  the  effects  of  habit  and  the 
natural  organization. 

One  of  the  most  important  results  of  habit  is  its  in- 
fluence on  faith  or  belief.  Those  persons  who  prac- 
tice methods  of  false  reasoning,  who  turn  awaj  from 
evidence  and  follow  their  feelings  in  forming  opinions, 
eventually  lose  the  power  of  sure,  confiding  belief. 

On  the  contrary,  an  honest,  conscientious  steadiness 
in  seeking  the  truth  and  in  yielding  to  evidence  se- 
cures the  firmest  and  most  reliable  convictions,  and 
that  peace  of  mind  which  alone  results  from  believing 
the  truth. 


190  THE  BIBLE  AND   THE   PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

MIND   AS   PROOF   OF   ITS   CREATOR'S   DESIGNS. 

We  have  seen  that  the  mind  of  man,  by  its  very 
constitution,  has  certain  implanted  truths  which  it  be- 
lieves from  the  necessity  of  its  nature,  and  that  these 
are  the  foundation  of  all  acquired  knowledge,  and  the 
guide  to  all  truth. 

We  have  seen  that,  independently  of  a  revelation,  we 
have  no  other  sources  of  knowledge  except  these  intu- 
itions, the  experience  of  ourselves  and  others,  and  the 
deductions  of  reasoning. 

We  have  examined  as  to  the  amount  of  knowledge 
to  be  gained  from  these  sources  in  regard  to  the  na- 
ture of  mind,  the  laws  of  the  system  of  which  it  is  the 
essential  part,  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  our  pros- 
pects after  death,  and  the  character  and  designs  of  our 
Creator. 

In  discussing  the  last  topic,  it  has  been  assumed 
that  the  grand  and  ultimate  design  of  the  Creator  is 
"to  produce  the  greatest  possible  happiness  with  the 
least  possible  evil." 

We  have  examined,  at  some  length,  the  chief  facul- 
ties and  laws  of  the  human  mind,  for  the  purpose  of 
exhibiting  their  adaptation  to  tliis  design. 

We  now  proceed  to  a  brief  review  of  this  portion 
as  a  sunfiTYiing  up  of  the  evidence  sustaining  the  prop- 
osition that  the  grand  end  of  the  Creator,  in  forming 


MIND   AS   PEOOF,  ETC.  191 

mind,  is  to  j^'i^oduce  the  greatest  j^ossihle  happiness 
with  the  least  possible  evil. 

xVs  preliminary,  however,  we  need  to  refer  to  one 
principle. 

Whenever  we  find  any  contrivances  all  combining  to 
secure  a  certain  good  result,  w^hich,  at  the  same  time, 
involves  some  degree  of  inevitable  evil,  and  then  discov- 
er that  there  are  contrivances  to  diminish  and  avoid  this 
evil,  we  properly  infer  that  the  author  intended  to  secure 
as  inuch  of  the  good  with  as  little  of  the  evil  asjjossi- 
ble.  For  example,  a  traveler  finds  a  deserted  mine,  and 
all  around  he  discovers  contrivances  for  obtaining  gold, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  other  contrivances  for  getting 
rid  of  the  earth  mixed  w4th  it.  The  inevitable  infer- 
ence would  be  that  the  author  of  these  contrivances 
designed  to  secure  as  much  gold  with  as  little  earth  as 
possible ;  and  should  any  one  say  that  he  could  have 
had  more  gold  and  less  earth  if  he  wished  it,  the  an- 
swer w'ould  be  that  there  is  no  evidence  of  this  asser- 
tion, but  direct  evidence  against  it. 

Again :  should  we  discover  a  piece  of  machinery  in 
which  every  contrivance  tended  to  secure  speed  in 
movement,  produced  by  ih^  friction  of  wheels  against 
a  rough  surface,  and  at  the  same  time  other  contriv- 
ances were  found  for  diminishing  all  friction  that  was 
useless,  we  should  infer  that  the  author  designed  to 
secure  the  greatest  p)Ossihle  speed  with  the  least  possi- 
ble friction. 

In  like  manner,  if  we  can  show  that  mind  is  a  con- 
trivance that  acts  by  the  influence  of  fear  of  evil,  and 
that  pain  seems  as  indispensable  to  the  action  of  a 
free  agent  as  friction  is  to  motion  ;  if  we  can  show  that 


192  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

there  is  no  contrivance  in  mind  or  matter  which  is  de- 
signed to  secure  suffering  as  its  primary  end ;  if  we 
can,  on  the  contrary,  show  that  the  direct  end  of  all  the 
organizations  of  mind  and  matter  is  to  produce  happi- 
ness ;  if  we  can  show  that  it  is  only  the  wrong  action 
of  mind  that  involves  most  of  the  pain  yet  known,  so 
that  right  action,  in  its  place,  would  secure  only  hap- 
piness ;  if  we  can  show  contrivances  for  diminishing 
pain,  and  also  contrivances  for  increasing  happiness  by 
means  of  the  inevitable  pain  involved  in  the  system 
of  things,  then  the  just  conclusion  will  be  gained  that 
the  Author  of  the  system  of  mind  and  matter  designed 
"  to  produce  the  greatest  possible  happiness  with  the 
least  possible  evil."* 

In  the  review  v/hich  follows,  we  shall  present  evi- 
dence exhibiting  all  these  particulars. 

The  only  way  in  which  we  leam  the  nature  of  a 
thing  is  to  observe  its  qualities  and  actions.  This  is 
true  of  mind  as  much  as  it  is  of  matter.  Experience 
and  observation  teach  that  the  nature  of  mind  is  such 
that  the  fear  of  suffering  is  indispensable  to  secure  a 
large  portion  of  the  enjoyment  within  reach  of  its  fac- 
ulties, and  that  the  highest  modes  of  enjoyment  can 
not  be  secured  except  by  sacrifice,  and  thus  by  more 
or  less  suffering. 

This  appears  to  be  an  inevitable  combination,  as 
much  so  as  friction  is  inevitable  in  machinery. 

We  have  the  evidence  of  our  own  consciousness 
that  it  is  fear  of  evil  to  ourselves  or  to  others  that  is 
the  strongest  motive  power  to  the  mind.  If  we  should 
find  that  no  pain  resulted  from  burning  up  our  own 
bodies,  or  from  drowning,  or  from  any  other  cause ;  if 
*  Note  B. 


»nND   AS   PEOOF,   ETC.  193 

every  one  perceived  that  no  care,  trouble,  or  pain  re- 
sulted firom  losing  all  kinds  of  enjoyment,  the  effort  to 
seek  it  would  be  greatly  diminished. 

K  we  could  desire  good  enough  to  exert  ourselves  to 
seek  it,  and  yet  should  feel  no  discomfort  in  failing ; 
if  we  could  lose  every  thing^  and  feel  no  sense  of  pain 
or  care,  the  stimulus  to  action  which  experience  has 
shown  to  be  most  powerful  and  beneficent  would  be 
lost. 

We  find  that  abundance  of  ease  and  prosperity  en- 
ervates mental  power,  and  that  mind  increases  in  all 
that  is  grand  and  noble,  and  also  in  the  most  elevating 
happiness,  by  means  of  danger,  care,  and  pain.  We 
may  properly  infer,  then,  that  evil  is  a  necessary  part 
of  the  experience  of  a  perfectly-acting  mind. 

So  strong  is  the  conviction  that  jpainful  jpenalties 
are  indispensable,  that  the  kindest  parents  and  the 
most  benevolent  rulers  are  the  most  sure  to  increase 
rather  than  diminish  those  that  are  already  involved 
in  the  existing  nature  of  things. 

Again :  without  a  revelation  we  have  no  knowledge 
of  any  kind  of  mind  but  by  inference  from  our  expe- 
rience in  this  state  of  being.  All  we  know  of  the 
Eternal  First  Cause  is  by  a  process  of  reasoning,  in- 
ferring that  his  nature  must  be  like  the  only  minds  of 
which  we  have  any  knowledge.  We  assume,  then,  that 
he  is  a  free  agent,  regulated  by  desire  for  happiness 
and  fear  of  evil. 

We  thus  come  to  the  conclusion  that  this  organiza- 
tion of  mind  is  a  part  of  \h.Q  fixed  and  eternal  nature 
of  things^  and  does  not  result  from  the  will  of  the  Cre- 
ator.  .  His  own  is  the  eternal  pattern  of  an  all-per- 

I 


194  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

feet  mind,  and  our  own  are  formed  on  this  perfect  mod- 
el, with  susceptibilities  to  pain  as  an  indispensable  mo- 
tive power  in  gaining  happiness. 

We  will  now  recapitulate  some  of  the  particulars  in 
the  laws  and  constitution  of  mind  which  tend  to  estab- 
lish the  position  that  its  Creator's  grand  design  is  "  to 
produce  the  greatest  possible  happiness  with  the  least 
possible  evil." 

Intellectual  Powers, 

First,  then,  in  reference  to  the  earliest  exercise  of 
mind  in  sensation.  The  eye  might  have  been  so  made 
that  light  would  inflict  pain,  and  the  ear  so  that  sound 
would  cause  only  discomfort.  And  so  of  all  the  other 
senses. 

But  the  condition  of  a  well-formed,  healthy  infant 
is  a  most  striking  illustration  of  the  adaptation  of  the 
senses  to  receive  enjoyment.  Who  could  gaze  on  the 
countenance  of  such  a  little  one,  as  its  various  senses 
are  called  into  exercise,  without  such  a  conviction? 
The  delight  manifested  as  the  light  attracts  the  eye, 
or  as  pleasant  sounds  charm  the  ear,  or  as  the  limpid 
nourishment  gratifies  its  taste,  or  as  gentle  motion  and 
soft  fondlings  soothe  the  nerves  of  touch,  all  testify  to 
the  benevolent  design  of  its  Maker. 

Next  come  the  pleasures  oi  jpercejption  as  the  in- 
fant gradually  observes  the  qualities  of  the  various 
objects  around,  and  slowly  learns  to  distinguish  its 
mother  and  its  playthings  from  the  confused  mass  of 
forms  and  colors.  Then  comes  the  gentle  curiosity 
as  it  watches  the  movement  of  its  own  limbs,  and 
finally  discovers  that  its  own  volitions  move  its  tiny 


MIND   AS   PEOOF,   ETC.  195 

fingers,  while  the  grand  idea  that  it  is  itself  a  cause  is 
gradually  introduced. 

Next  come  the  varied  intellectual  pleasures  as  the 
several  powers  are  exercised  in  connection  with  the 
animate  and  material  world  around,  in  acquiring  the 
meaning  of  words,  and  in  imitating  the  sounds  and 
use  of  language.  The  adult,  in  toiling  over  the  dry 
lexicon,  little  realizes  the  pleasure  with  which  the  little 
one  is  daily  acquiring  the  philosophy,  grammar,  and 
vocabulary  of  its  mother  tongue. 

A  child  who  can  not  understand  a  single  complete 
sentence,  or  speak  an  intelligible  phrase,  will  sit  and 
listen  with  long-continued  delight  to  the  simple  enun- 
ciation of  words,  each  one  of  which  presents  a  picture 
to  his  mind  of  a  dog,  a  cat,  a  cow,  a  horse,  a  whip,  a 
ride,  and  many  other  objects  and  scenes  that  have 
given  pleasure  in  the  past ;  while  the  single  words, 
without  any  sentences,  bring  back,  not  only  vivid  con- 
ceptions of  these  objects,  but  a  part  of  the  enjoyment 
with  which  they  have  been  connected. 

Then,  as  years  pass  by,  the  intellect  more  and  more 
administers  pleasure,  while  the  reasoning  powers  are 
developed,  the  taste  cultivated,  the  imagination  exer- 
cised, the  judgment  employed,  and  the  memory  stored 
with  treasures  for  future  enjoyment. 

In  the  proper  and  temperate  use  of  the  intellectual 
powers,  there  is  a  constant  succession  of  placid  satis- 
faction, or  of  agreeable  and  often  of  delightful  emo- 
tions, while  no  one  of  these  faculties  is  productive  of 
pain  except  in  violating  the  laws  of  the  mental  consti- 
tution. 


196  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

The  Susceptibilities. 

In  regard  to  the  second  general  class  of  mental  pow- 
ers— the  susceptibilities — the  first  particular  to  be  no- 
ticed is  the  ceaseless  and  all-pervading  desire  to  gain 
happiness  and  escape  pain.  This  is  the  mainspring 
of  all  voluntary  activity ;  for  no  act  of  volition  will 
take  place  till  some  good  is  presented  to  gain,  or  some 
evil  to  shun.  At  the  same  time,  as  has  been  shown, 
the  desire  to  escape  evil  is  more  potent  and  effective 
than  the  desire  for  good.  Thousands  of  minds  that 
rest  in  passive  listlessness,  when  there  is  nothing  to 
stimulate  but  hope  of  enjoyment,  will  exert  every  phys- 
ical and  mental  power  to  escape  impending  evil.  The 
seasons  of  long-continued  prosperity  in  nations  always 
tend  to  a  deterioration  of  intellect  and  manhood.  It  is 
in  seasons  of  danger  alone  that  fear  wakes  up  the  high- 
est energies,  and  draws  forth  the  heroes  of  the  race. 

]\Iind,  then,  is  an  existence  having  the  power  of  that 
self-originating  action  of  choice  which  constitutes  free 
agency,  while  this  power  can  only  be  exercised  when 
desires  are  excited  to  gain  happiness  or  to  escape  pain. 
This  surely  is  the  highest  possible  evidence  that  its 
Author  intended  mind  should  thus  act. 

But  a  mind  may  act  to  secure  happiness  and  avoid 
pain  to  itself,  and  yet  may  gain  only  very  low  grades 
of  enjoyment,  while  much  higher  are  within  reach  of 
its  faculties.  So,  also,  it  may  act  to  gain  happiness 
for  itself  as  the  chief  end  in  such  ways  as  to  prevent 
or  destroy  the  happiness  of  others  around. 

In  reference  to  this,  we  find  those  susceptibilities 
which  raise  man  to  the  dignity  of  a  moral  being. 


MIND   AS    PROOF,   ETC.  197 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  that  im-pressioii  of  the 
great  design  of  the  Creator  existing  in  every  mind, 
either  as  a  result  of  constitution  or  of  training,  or  of 
both  united,  which  results  in  a  feeling  that  whatever 
lessens  or  destroys  happiness  is  unfit  and  contrary  to 
the  system  of  things. 

ISText  tliere  is  the  power  to  balance  pleasure  and 
pain,  and  estimate  the  compound  result,  both  in  refer- 
ence to  self  and  to  the  commonwealth.  With  this  is 
combined  the  feeling  that  whatever  secures  the  most 
good  with  the  leant  evil  is  right  and  fit,  and  that  the 
opposite  is  wrong  and  unfitted  to  the  nature  of  things. 

Xext  comes  the  sense  of  justice^  which  results  in  an 
impulse  to  discover  the  cause  of  good  and  evil,  and 
when  this  cause  is  found  to  be  a  voluntary  agent,  a 
consequent  impulse  to  make  returns  of  good  for  good, 
and  of  evil  for  evil,  and  also  io  j^^^oj^ortion  retributive  re- 
wards or  penalties  to  the  amount  of  good  or  evil  done. 

With  this,  also,  is  combined  the  feeling  that  those 
retributions  should  be  applied  only  where  there  was 
voluntary  power  to  have  done  otherwise.  When  it  is 
seen  that  there  was  no  such  power,  the  impulse  to  re- 
ward or  punish  is  repressed. 

Such  is  the  deep  conviction  that  such  retributions 
are  indispensable,  that  where  natural  pains  and  penal- 
ties do  not  avail,  others  are  demanded,  both  in  the 
family  and  in  the  commonwealth. 

Lastly,  we  find  the  susceptibility  ot  consde^ice, 
which,  by  the  very  framework  of  the  mind  itself,  appor- 
tions the  retributive  pangs  of  remorse  for  wrong  doing, 
and  the  pleasure  of  self-approval  for  well  doing. 
These,  too,  are  retributions  never  to  be  escaped,  and 


198       THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

the  most  exquisite,  both  in  elevated  happiness  and  ex- 
quisite pain.  The  mind  caiTics  about  in  itself  its  own 
certain  and  gracious  remunerator — its  own  inexorable 
prosecutor,  judge,  and  executioner. 

This  same  design  of  the  Creator  may  be  most  de- 
lightfully traced  in  what  may  be  called  the  economy 
of  happiness  and  pain. 

One  particular  of  this  is  set  forth  at  large  in  the 
chapter  on  the  emotions  of  taste.  Here  we  find  the 
mind  formed  not  only  to  secure  multitudinous  enjoy^ 
ments  through  the  nerves  of  sensation,  but  that,  by  the 
principle  of  association,  there  is  a  perpetual  reproduc- 
tion of  these  emotions  in  connection  with  the  colors, 
forms,  sounds,  and  motions  with  which  they  were  orig- 
inally associated.  Thus  there  are  perpetually  return- 
ing emotions  of  pleasure  so  recondite,  so  refined,  so  al- 
most infinite  in  variety  and  exent,  and  yet  how  little 
noticed  or  understood ! 

Another  indication  of  the  same  kind  is  the  pecul- 
iarity pointed  out  on  former  pages,  where  it  is  shown 
that  securing  certain  enjoyments  which  tend  to  pro- 
mote the  general  happiness  increases  both  desire  and 
capacity  for  enjoyment,  while  those  that  terminate  in 
the  individual  diminish  by  possession.  Thus  the  en- 
joyment of  power,  which  must,  from  its  nature,  be 
confined  to  a  few,  diminishes  by  possession.  Thus, 
too,  the  pleasures  of  sense  pall  by  indulgence.  But 
the  enjoyment  resulting  from  the  exercise  and  recipro- 
cation of  love,  and  that  resulting  from  benevolent  ac- 
tions, and  that  which  is  included  in  a  course  of  per- 
fect obedience  to  all  the  rules  of  rectitude,  increases 
the  capacity  for  enjoyment. 


MIND  AS   PEOOF,   ETC.  199 

Another  illustration  of  the  same  principle  is  exhib- 
ited in  the  chapter  on  Habit,  where  it  is  seen  that  the 
power  of  pleasurable  emotions  increases  by  repetition, 
while  painful  emotions  decrease  when  the  good  to  be 
secured  by  their  agency  is  attained.  Thus  fear  seems 
to  protect  from  danger  till  caution  and  habit  render  it 
needless,  and  then  it  decreases.  And  so  of  other  pain- 
ful emotions. 

It  is  interesting  to  trace  the  same  design  in  the  con- 
stitution of  minds  in  regard  to  each  other.  We  find 
that  the  purest  and  highest  kind  of  happiness  is  de- 
pendent on  the  mutual  relations  of  minds.  Thus  the 
enjoyment  resulting  from  the  discovery  of  intellectual 
and  moral  traits  in  other  minds — that  resulting  from 
giving  and  receiving  affection — that  gained  by  sympa- 
thy, and  by  being  the  cause  of  happiness  to  others,  and 
that  resulting  from  conscious  rectitude,  all  are  de- 
pendent on  the  existence  of  other  beings. 

Now  we  find  that  minds  are  relatively  so  constituted 
that  what  one  desires,  it  is  a  source  of  hajyjyirf-^ss  in 
another  to  hestoio.  Thus  one  can  be  pleased  by  the 
discovery  of  certain  traits  in  other  minds,  while,  in  re- 
turn, the  exliibition  of  these  traits,  and  the  conscious- 
ness that  they  are  appreciated,  is  an  equal  source  of 
enjoyment.  One  mind  seeks  the  love  of  others,  while 
these,  in  return,  are  desiring  objects  of  affection,  and 
rejoice  to  confer  the  gift  that  is  sought.  The  desire 
of  knowledge  or  the  gratification  of  curiosity  is  anoth- 
er source  of  pleasure,  while  satisfying  this  desire  is  a 
cause  of  enjoyment  to  those  around.  How  readily  do 
mankind  seize  upon  every  opportunity  to  convey  in- 
teresting news  to  other  minds ! 


200  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE    PEOPLE. 

Again :  we  find  that,  both  in  sorrow  and  in  joy,  the 
mind  seeks  for  the  sympathy  of  others,  while  this 
grateful  and  soothing  boon  it  is  delightful  to  bestow. 
So,  also,  the  consciousness  of  being  the  cause  of  good 
to  another  sends  joy  to  the  heart,  while  the  recipient 
is  filled  with  the  pleasing  glow  of  gratitude  in  receiving 
the  benefit.  The  consciousness  of  virtue  in  acting  for 
the  general  good,  instead  of  for  contracted,  selfish  pur- 
poses, is  another  source  of  happiness,  while  those  who 
witness  its  delightful  results  rejoice  to  behold  and  ac- 
knowledge it.  What  bursts  of  rapturous  applause 
have  followed  the  exhibition  of  virtuous  self-sacrifice 
for  the  good  of  others  from  bosoms  who  rejoiced  in  this 
display,  and  who  could  owe  this  pleasure  to  no  other 
cause  than  the  natural  constitution  of  mind,  which  is 
formed  to  be  made  happy  both  in  beholding  and  in 
exercising  virtue. 

This  same  beneficial  economy  is  manifested  in  a 
close  analysis  of  all  that  is  included  in  the  affections 
of  love  and  gratitude. 

It  has  been  shown  that,  in  the  commencement  of 
existence,  the  young  mind  first  learns  the  sources  of 
good  and  evil  to  self,  and  its  sole  motives  are  desire  for 
its  own  enjoyment. 

Soon,  however,  it  begins  to  experience  the  happiness 
resulting  from  the  relations  of  minds  to  each  other, 
and  then  is  developed  the  superior  power  of  love^  and 
its  importance  as  a  regulating  principle. 

In  the  analysis  of  this  affection,  it  is  seen  to  consist, 
first,  in  the  pleasurable  emotions  which  arise  in  view  of 
those  traits  of  character  in  another  mind  pointed  out  on 
previous  pages.     When  these  qualities  are  discovered, 


MIND  AS   PEOOF,   ETC.  201 

the  first  result  is  emotions  of  pleasure  in  the  contem- 
plation. Immediately  there  follows  a  desire  of  good 
to  the  cause  of  this  pleasure,  JSText  follows  the  desire 
of  reciprocated  affection — that  is,  a  desire  is  awakened 
to  become  the  cause  of  the  same  j^l^ccsure  to  another; 
for  the  desire  of  being  loved  is  the  desire  to  be  the 
cause  of  pleasurable  emotions  in  another  mind,  in  view 
of  our  own  good  qualities.  "When  we  secure  this  de- 
sired appreciation,  then  follows  an  increased  desire  of 
good  to  the  one  who  bestows  it. 

Thus  the  affection  of  love  is  a  combination  of  the 
action  and  reaction  of  pleasurable  emotions,  all  tending 
to  awaken  the  desire  of  good  to  another.  This  pas- 
sion may  become  so  intensified  that  it  will  become 
more  delightful  to  secure  enjoyments  to  another  than 
to  procure  them  for  self. 

Gratitude  is  the  emotion  of  pleasure  toward  the  au- 
thor of  voluntary  good  to  self,  attended  by  a  desire  of 
good  to  the  benefactor.  This  principle  can  be  added 
to  augment  the  power  of  love. 

There  is  a  foundation  for  a  very  important  dis- 
tinction in  the  analysis  of  the  principle  of  love.  In 
what  is  thus  far  presented,  we  find  that  the  desire  of 
good  to  another  results  solely  from  the  fact  that  cer- 
tain mental  qualities  are  causes  of  pleasure  to  self 
Of  course,  this  desire  ceases  when  those  qualities  cease 
to  exist  or  cease  to  be  appreciated.  This  kind  of  love 
is  the  natural  result  of  the  constitution  of  minds  in 
their  relations  to  each  other,  making  it  easy  and  pleas- 
ant to  live  for  the  good  of  another  in  return  for  the 
pleasure  received  from  their  agreeable  qualities  and 
manifestations. 

12 


202       THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

But  the  highest  kind  of  love  consists  in  the  desire 
of  good  to  another''  ivitJiout  reference  to  any  good  r^- 
ceived  in  return.  It  is  good  willing.  It  consists  in 
an  abiding  feeling  of  desire  for  the  happiness  of  anoth- 
er mind. 

This  principle  exists  as  a  natural  impulse  more  or 
less  powerful  in  differently  constituted  minds.  It  is 
the  cause  of  that  pleasure  which  is  felt  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  being  the  cause  of  good  to  another.  But 
this  natural  impulse  can  be  so  developed  and  increased 
by  voluntary  culture  as  to  become  the  strongest  im- 
pulse of  the  mind,  and  thus  the  source  of  the  highest 
and  most  satisfying  enjoyments.  In  many  minds 
this  becomes  so  strongly  developed  that  securing  hap- 
piness to  others  is  sought  with  far  more  earnestness 
and  pleasure  than  any  modes  of  enjoyment  that  term- 
inate solely  in  self.  This  analysis  lays  the  foundation 
for  the  distinction  expressed  by  the  terms  the  love  of 
co'in])lacency  and  the  love  of  benevolence.  The  first  is 
the  involuntary  result  of  good  conferred  on  self ;  the 
last  is  a  voluntary  act.  It  is  good  willing  toward 
others  without  reference  to  self. 

The  first  can  only  exist  where  certain  qualities  are 
preserved  and  appreciated  in  another  mind.  The  sec- 
ond can  result  from  voluntary  eftbrt,  and  become  the 
subject  of  law  and  penalties. 

We  can  never  be  justly  required  to  love  another  mind 
with  the  love  of  complacency  except  when  qualities 
are  perceived  that,  by  the  constitution  of  mind,  neces- 
sarily call  forth  such  regard.  But  the  love  of  benevo- 
lence can  be  justly  demanded  from  every  mind  toward 
every  being  capable  of  happiness. 


MIND  AS   PROOF,  ETC.  203 

Here  it  is  important  to  discriminate  more  exactly 
in  regard  to  the  principle  of  benevolence  and  the  prin- 
ciple of  rectitude. 

It  is  seen  that  the  benevolence  which  is  the  sub- 
ject of  rewards  and  penalties  as  a  voluntarj  act  con- 
sists in  good  vnlling — that  is,  in  choosing  the  happi- 
ness of  other  minds  as  the  object  of  interest  and  pur- 
suit. 

But  the  principle  of  rectitude  is  more  comprehensive 
in  its  nature.  It  relates  to  obedience  to  all  the  laws 
of  the  system  of  the  universe — those  relating  to  our- 
selves as  much  as  those  relating  to  otliers.  It  is  true 
that,  as  obedience  to  these  laws  includes  the  greatest 
possible  amount  of  good  with  the  least  possible  evil, 
both  to  the  individual  and  the  commonwealth,  the  tend- 
ency of  the  two  principles  is  to  the  same  result.  But 
it  may  be  the  case  that  benevolence  acts  contrary  to 
the  true  rules  of  rectitude,  and  thus  may  mar  rather 
than  promote  happiness.  A  mind  must  not  only 
choose  to  promote  the  greatest  possible  happiness,  but 
must  choose  the  right  icay  of  doing  it. 

A  very  important  particular  to  be  considered  is,  that, 
while  in  the  physical  and  mental  constitution  there  is 
not  a  single  arrangement  the  direct  object  of  wliich  is 
to  produce  suffering,  the  susceptibilities  to  pain  seem 
designed  to  protect  and  preserve,  while  the  greater  the 
need  the  more  strong  is  this  protection.  For  example, 
in  regard  to  physical  organization,  fire  is  an  element 
that  is  indispensable  to  the  life,  comfort,  and  activity 
of  man,  and  it  must  be  accessible  at  all  times  and 
places.  But  all  its  service  arises  from  its  power  to 
dissolve  and  destroy  the  body  itself,  as  weU  as  all 


204  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

things  around  it.  Therefore  the  pain  connected  with 
contact  with  fire  is  more  acute  than  almost  any  other. 
Thus  even  the  youngest  child  is  taught  that  care  and 
caution  needful  to  protect  its  body  from  injury  or  de- 
struction. 

Another  fact  in  regard  to  the  susceptibilities  of  pain 
is  their  frequent  co-existence  with  the  highest  degrees 
of  enjoyment.  The  experiences  of  this  life  often  pre- 
sent cases  where  the  most  elevated  and  ecstatic  happi- 
ness is  combined  with  the  keenest  suffering,  while  such 
is  the  nature  of  the  case  that  the  suffering  is  the  chief 
cause  of  the  happiness  thus  secured.  The  highest 
illustration  of  this  is  in  the  suffering  of  saints  and  mar- 
tyrs, when  they  "rejoice  to  be  counted  worthy  to  suf- 
fer shame,"  or  when,  amid  torturing  flames,  they  sing 
songs  of  transport  and  praise. 

Even  in  common  life  it  is  constantly  found  that  a 
certain  relative  amount  of  happiness  is  felt  to  be  more 
than  a  recompense  for  a  given  amount  of  pain.  This 
relative  amount  may  be  such  that  the  evil  involved, 
though  great,  may  count  as  nothing.  Where  there  is 
a  passionate  attachment,  for  example,  the  lover  exults 
in  the  labor  and  suffering  that  will  joyfully  be  received 
as  a  proof  of  affection  and  secure  the  compensating  re- 
turn. 

It  is  a  very  common  fact  that  the  existence  of  pain- 
ful emotions  is  sought,  not  for  themselves,  but  as  min- 
isters to  a  kind  of  mental  excitement  which  is  desired. 
This  is  the  foundation  of  the  pleasure  which  is  felt  in 
tragic  representations,  and  in  poetry  and  novels  that 
present  scenes  of  distress.  The  little  child  will  again 
and  again  ask  for  the  tale  of  the  Babes  in  the  Wood, 


MIND   AS   PEOOF,  ETC.  205 

thougli  each  rehearsal  brings  forth  tears  ;  and  the 
mature  matron  or  sage  will  spend  hours  over  tales  that 
harrow  the  feelings  or  call  forth  sighs.  This  also 
is  the  foundation  of  that  kind  of  music  called  the 
tninor  key,  in  which  certain  sounds  bring  emotions 
of  sadness  or  sorrow. 

Another  striking  fact  in  regard  to  the  desire  for  pain 
is  the  emotions  that  are  felt  by  the  most  noble  and 
benevolent  minds  at  the  sight  of  cruelty  and  injustice. 
At  such  scenes,  the  desire  for  inflicting  pain  on  the 
guilty  offender  amounts  to  a  passion  which  nothing 
can  allay  but  retributive  justice.  And  the  more  be- 
nevolent the  mind,  the  stronger  this  desire  for  retribu- 
tive evil  to  another. 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  mind  is  so  made  as  to  de- 
sire pain  both  for  itself  and  for  others ;  not  in  itself 
considered,  but  as  the  indispensable  means  to  gain 
some  consequent  enjoyment. 

The  highest  kinds  of  happiness  result  from  painful 
emergencies.  The  transports  of  love,  gratitude,  and 
delight,  when  some  benefactor  rescues  suffering  thou- 
sands from  danger  and  evil,  could  exist  in  no  other 
way.  All  the  long  train  of  virtues  included  in  patient 
toil  for  the  good  of  others,  in  heroic  daring,  in  brave 
adventure,  in  fortitude,  in  patience,  in  resignation,  in 
heavenly  meekness,  in  noble  magnanimity,  in  sublime 
self-sacrifice,  all  involve  the  idea  of  trial,  danger,  and 
suffering.  It  is  only  the  highest  and  noblest  class  of 
minds  that  can  fully  understand  that  the  most  blissful 
of  all  enjoyments  are  those  which  are  bought  with  pain. 

But  the  most  cheering  feature  in  the  constitution  of 
mind  is  all  that  is  included  in  the  principle  of  habit 


206  THE  BIBLE  AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

We  see  in  the  commencement  of  existence  that  every 
action  of  mind  and  body  is  imperfect,  and  more  or  less 
difficult,  while  each  effort  to  secure  right  action  in- 
creases the  facility  of  so  doing.  We  see  that,  owing 
to  this  principle,  every  act  of  obedience  to  law  makes 
such  a  course  easier.  The  intellect,  the  susceptibili- 
ties, the  will,  all  come  under  this  benign  influence. 
Habit  may  so  diminish  the  difficulty  of  self-denial  for 
our  own  good  that  the  pain  entirely  ceases ;  and  self- 
sacrifice  for  the  good  of  others  may  so  develop  benevo- 
lence and  generate  a  habit  that  it  will  become  pleas- 
ure without  pain.  There  are  those,  even  in  this  world, 
who  have  so  attained  this  capacity  of  living  in  the  life 
of  those  around  them  that  the  happiness  of  others  be- 
comes their  OAvn,  and  then  there  is  even  less  pain  in 
self-denial  for  the  good  of  others  than  for  that  of  self. 
When  this  habit  of  mind  is  attained,  the  happiness  of 
the  commonwealth  becomes  the  portion  of  the  individ- 
ual. 


PKOOrS   OF  THE   CKEATOK'S   DESIGN.  207 


CHAPTER  XXIIL 

SOCIAL  AND  MATERIAL   PROOFS   OF  THE  CREATOR'S 
DESIGNS. 

We  have  now  presented  the  organization  of  mind  as 
the  chief  evidence  of  the  grand  design  of  its  Creator  in 
forming  all  things.  We  now  will  trace  the  evidences 
of  the  same  beneficent  object  in  the  social  and  mate- 
rial organizations. 

First,  then,  in  regard  to  the  domestic  relations.  We 
have  seen  that  while  all  happiness  depends  on  obedi- 
ence to  laws,  every  mind  comes  into  existence  in  per- 
fect ignorance  of  them,  and  without  any  power  to  learn 
what  is  good  or  evil  but  by  experience  and  instruction. 
The  intention  of  the  Creator  that  each  new-born  being 
should  be  taught  these  laws  and  trained  to  obey  them, 
is  clearly  seen  in  the  first  and  highest  domestic  rela- 
tion. In  this  we  see  two  mature  minds,  who  have 
themselves  been  trained  to  understand  these  laws, 
drawn  by  sweet  and  gentle  influences  to  each  other. 
They  go  apart  from  all  past  ties  of  kindred ;  they  have 
one  home,  one  name,  one  common  interest  in  every 
thing.  The  one  who  has  most  physical  strength  goes 
forth  to  provide  supplies ;  the  delicate  one  remains 
behind,  by  domestic  ministries  to  render  home  the  cen- 
tre of  all  attractions. 

Then  comes  the  beautiful,  helpless  infant,  of  no  use 
to  any  one,  and  demanding  constant  care,  labor,  and  at- 


208  THE   BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

tention.  And  yet,  with  its  profound  ignorance,  its  ten- 
der weakness,  its  delicate  beauty,  its  utter  helplessness, 
its  entire  dependence,  how  does  it  draw  forth  the  stron- 
gest feelings  of  love  and  tenderness,  making  every  toil 
and  care  a  delight !  And  thus,  month  after  month, 
"both  parents  unite  to  cherish  and  support,  while,  with 
unceasing  vigilance,  they  train  the  new-born  mind  to 
understand  and  obey  the  laws  of  the  system  into  which 
it  is  thus  ushered.  Its  first  lessons  are  to  learn  to 
take  care  of  its  own  body.  And  when  the  far-off  pen- 
alty of  pain  can  not  be  comprehended  by  the  novice, 
the  parent  invents  new  penalties  to  secure  habits  of 
care  and  obedience.  During  all  this  period  the  great 
lesson  of  sacrifice  constantly  occurs.  The  child  must 
eat  what  is  hest^  not  what  it  desires.  It  must  go  to 
bed  when  it  wants  to  sit  up.  It  must  stay  in  the 
house  when  it  wants  to  go  out.  It  must  not  touch 
multitudes  of  things  which  it  wishes  thus  to  investi- 
gate. And  so  the  habits  of  self-denial,  obedience,  and 
faith  in  the  parents  are  gradually  secured,  while  the 
knowledge  of  the  laws  of  the  system  around  are  slow- 
ly learned. 

But  the  higher  part  of  the  law  of  sacrifice  soon  be- 
gins to  make  its  demands.  The  child  first  learns  of 
this  law  hy  exarwple,  in  that  of  the  inother,  that  most 
perfect  illustration  of  self-sacrificing  love.  Then  comes 
a  second  child,  when  the  fu'st-bom  must  practice  on 
this  example.  It  must  give  up  its  place  in  the  moth- 
er's bosom  to  another ;  it  must  share  its  sweets  and 
toys  with  the  new-comer ;  it  must  join  in  efforts  to 
protect,  amuse,  and  instruct  the  helpless  one.  And 
thus  the  family  is  the  constant  school  for  training  ig- 


PROOFS   OF   THE   CREATOR'S   DESIGN.  209 

norant,  inexperienced  mind  in  tlie  laws  of  the  system 
of  which  it  is  a  part,  especially  in  the  great  law  of  self- 
control  and  of  self-sacrifice  for  the  good  of  others. 

JSText  comes  the  discipline  of  the  school  and  the 
neighborhood,  when  the  child  is  placed  among  his  peers 
to  be  taught  new  rules  of  justice,  benevolence,  and  self- 
sacrifice  for  the  general  good. 

Next  come  the  relations  of  the  body  politic,  for 
which  labors  are  demanded  and  pain  is  to  be  endured 
under  the  grand  law  of  sacrifice,  that  the  individual  is 
to  subordinate  his  own  interests  and  wishes  to  the 
greater  general  good,  and  that  the  interests  of  the  ma- 
jority are  to  control  those  of  the  minority. 

Lastly,  the  whole  world  is  to  be  taken  into  the  esti- 
mate, and  the  nations  are  to  be  counted  as  members 
of  one  great  family  of  man,  for  which  every  portion  is 
to  make  sacrifices.  Thus,  as  age,  and  experience,  and 
habits  of  obedience  to  the  laws  of  rectitude  increase, 
the  duties  and  obligations  grow  more  numerous  and 
complicated.  But  the  same  grand  principle  is  more 
and  more  developed,  that  each  individual  is  to  seek  the 
greatest  possible  happiness  with  the  least  possible  evil, 
for  the  vast  whole  as  well  as  each  subordinate  part, 
while  self  is  to  receive  only  its  just  and  proper  share. 
The  same  great  design  of  the  Creator  can  be  detect- 
ed also  in  specific  organizations,  by  which  minds  so 
differ  from  each  other  as  to  fit  them  for  the  diverse  po- 
sitions and  relations  that  the  common  good  demands. 
If  all  were  exactly  alike  in  the  amount  of  constitutional 
powers  and  in  the  proportionate  combinations,  it  can 
easily  be  seen  that  the  general  result  would  be  far  less 
favorable  to  the  happiness  of  the  whole.     But  as  it  is, 


210       THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

some  have  the  love  of  power  veiy  large,  and  love  to 
lead  and  control ;  others  have  it  small,  and  love  to  fol- 
low. Some  have  elevated  intellect,  and  love  to  teach ; 
others  have  humbler  capacities,  and  better  love  hum- 
bler pursuits. 

These  varied  combinations  also  give  scope  to  the 
virtues  of  pity,  tenderness,  patience,  mercy,  justice, 
self-denial,  and  many  other  graces  that  could  not  be 
called  into  being  without  all  the  disparities,  social,  do- 
mestic, intellectual,  and  moral,  that  we  find  existing. 
Meantime,  the  prmciple  of  habit  and  the  power  of  the 
will  give  abundant  opportunities  for  modifying  these 
natural  peculiarities  to  accommodate  to  varying  cir- 
cumstances. 

To  these  indications  of  benevolent  design  may  be 
added  the  organization  of  the  bodily  system,  and  the 
constitution  of  the  material  world  without.  In  exam- 
ining the  body  we  inhabit,  so  nicely  adjusted,  so  per- 
fectly adapted  to  our  necessities,  so  beautifully  and 
harmoniously  arranged,  so  "fearfully  and  wonderfully 
made,"  it  is  almost  beyond  the  power  of  numbers  to 
express  the  multiplied  contrivances  for  ease,  comfort, 
and  delight. 

We  daily  pursue  our  business  and  our  pleasure, 
thoughtless  of  the  thousand  operations  which  are  go- 
ing on,  and  the  busy  mechanism  employed  in  securing 
the  objects  we  desire.  The  wann  current  that  is  flow- 
ing from  the  centre  to  the  extremities,  with  its  life- 
giving  energies,  and  then  returning  to  be  purified  and 
again  sent  forth  ;  the  myriads  of  branching  nerves  that 
are  the  sensitive  discerners  of  good  or  ill ;  the  unnum- 
bered muscles  and  tendons  that  are  contracting  and  ex- 


PROOFS   OF   THE   CREATOR'S   DESIGN.  211 

panding  in  all  parts  of  our  frame ;  the  nicely-adjusted 
joints,  and  bands,  and  ligaments,  that  sustain,  and  di- 
rect, and  support;  the  perpetual  expansion  and  con- 
traction of  the  vital  organ  ;  the  thousand  hidden  con- 
trivances and  operations  of  the  animal  frame,  all  are 
quietly  and  constantly  performing  their  generous  func- 
tions, and  administering  comfort  and  enjoyment  to  the 
conscious  spirit  that  dwells  within. 

Nor  is  the  outer  world  less  busy  in  performing  its 
part  in  promoting  the  great  design  of  the  Creator. 
The  light  of  suns  and  stars  is  traversing  the  ethereal 
expanse  in  search  of  those  for  whom  it  was  created ; 
for  them  it  gilds  the  scenes  of  earth,  and  is  reflected 
in  ten  thousand  forms  of  beauty  and  of  skilL  The 
trembling  air  is  waiting  to  minister  its  aid,  fanning 
with  cool  breezes,  or  yielding  the  warmth  of  spring, 
sustaining  the  functions  of  life,  and  bearing  on  its  light 
wing  the  thoughts  that  go  forth  from  mind  to  mind, 
and  the  breathings  of  affection  that  are  given  and  re- 
turned. For  this  design  earth  is  sending  forth  her 
exuberance,  the  waters  are  emptying  their  stores,  and 
the  clouds  pouring  forth  their  treasures.  All  nature 
is  busy  with  its  offerings  of  fruits  and  flowers,  its 
wandering  incense,  its  garnished  beauty,  and  its  va- 
ried songs.  Within  and  without,  above,  beneath,  and 
around,  the  same  Almighty  Beneficence  is  found  still 
ministering  to  the  wants  and  promoting  the  happiness 
of  the  minds  He  has  formed  forever  to  desire  and  pur- 
sue this  boon. 


212  THE   BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER  XXIY. 

EIGHT  MODE   OF   SECUEINa    THE    OBJECT  FOE  WHICH 
MIND   WAS   CEEATED. 

Having  set  forth  the  object  for  which  the  Creator 
formed  mind,  we  are  thus  furnished  with  the  means 
for  deciding  as  to  the  right  mode  of  its  action  in  ob- 
taining this  object.  We  may  discover  the  design  of 
a  most  curious  machine,  and  perceive  that,  if  it  is  right- 
ly regulated^  it  will  secure  that  end ;  while,  if  it  is 
worked  wrong,  it  will  break  itself  to  pieces,  and  de- 
stroy the  very  object  which  it  was  formed  to  secure. 

The  same  may  be  seen  to  be  as  true  of  mind  as  it 
is  of  material  organization,  and  the  question  then  is 
most  pertinent.  What  is  that  mode  of  mental  action 
which  will  most  perfectly  secure  the  end  for  which 
mind  is  made  ? 

We  have  seen  that  the  self-determining  power  of 
choice  is  the  distinctive  attribute  of  mind,  and  that 
all  the  other  powers  are  dependent  on  this,  and  regu- 
lated by  it.  We  have  seen  that  the  current  of  the 
thoughts,  and  the  nature  and  power  of  the  desires  and 
emotions,  are  also  conti-olled  by  the  generic  ruhng  pur- 
pose, or  chief  interest  of  the  mind. 

This  being  so,  then  the  only  way  in  which  mind 
can  act  to  secure  the  object  for  which  it  is  made  is  to 
choose  that  object  for  chief  end  or  ruling  purpose^ 
and  actually  carry  out  this  choice  i7i  all  subordinate 
volitions. 


EIGHT   MODE   OF   MENTAL  ACTION.  213 

We  will  now  present  the  evidence  gained  from  ex- 
perience, as  well  as  what  we  should  infer  from  the 
known  laws  of  mind,  to  show  what  the  result  would 
"be  in  a  system  of  minds  where  each  mind  should  thus 
act. 

Let  us  suppose,  then,  a  commonwealth  in  which  ev- 
ery mind  is  regulated  by  a  ruling  purpose  to  act 
rights  which  actually  controls  every  specific  volition. 
Each  mind  then  would  obey  all  those  laws  which  will 
secure  to  the  whole  community  and  to  each  individual 
the  greatest  possible  amount  of  happiness  with  the 
least  possible  evil. 

To  do  this  of  necessity  involves  the  idea  that  each 
mind  must  hiow  what  are  all  the  laws  of  the  system  ; 
for  no  one  can  choose  to  obey  laws  until  laws  are 
known. 

Let  the  result  on  a  single  mind  be  first  contem- 
plated. In  the  first  place,  all  the  trains  of  thought 
would  be  regulated  by  the  chief  desire,  which  would 
be  to  make  the  most  possible  happiness  with  the  least 
possible  evil.  Of  course,  all  those  ideas  that  were 
most  consonant  with  this  ruling  passion  would  be- 
come vivid  and  distinct ;  and  as  these  ideas  also  would 
be  connected  with  the  strongest  emotions,  the  two  chief 
causes  that  regulate  association  would  combine  to  se- 
cure constant  thought  and  intellectual  activity  to  pro- 
mote the  common  welfare  as  the  chief  object,  while 
self  would  have  only  its  true  and  proper  estimation 
and  attention.  There  would  be  no  need  of  effort  to 
regulate  thought  and  emotion,  for  they  would  all  flow 
naturally  to  the  grand  and  right  object. 

Next  suppose  a  commonwealth  in  wliich  every  mind 


214  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

had  its  intellect,  desires,  and  emotions,  and  all  its 
specific  volitions  thus  regulated  by  the  grand  aim  of 
making  the  most  possible  happiness,  guarded,  too,  by 
unerring  judgment,  so  as  to  make  no  miscalculation ; 
what  would  be  the  state  of  things,  so  far  as  we  can 
ascertain  by  past  experience  and  by  reasoning  from 
the  known  nature  of  things  ? 

First,  then,  in  reference  to  the  susceptibilities  of 
sensation.  If  all  should  never  touch  any  food  but 
that  which  would  expose  to  no  danger  or  excess ;  if 
they  never  encountered  any  needless  hazard ;  if  they 
exactly  balanced  all  the  probabilities  of  good  and  evil, 
in  every  matter  relating  to  the  pleasures  of  sense,  and 
invariably  chose  that  which  exposed  to  the  least  dan- 
ger ;  if  every  being  around  was  anxiously  watchful  in 
affording  the  results  of  observation,  and  in  protecting 
others  from  risk  and  exposure,  it  is  probable  that  the 
amount  of  sensitive  enjoyment  would  be  a  thousand 
fold  increased,  while  most  of  the  evils  caused  by  im- 
proper food  and  drink,  -by  needless  exposure,  by  neg- 
ligence of  danger,  and  by  many  other  causes  which 
now  operate,  would  cease.  With  the  present  consti- 
tution of  body,  which  tends  to  decay,  we  could  not 
positively  maintain  that  no  suffering  would  be  experi- 
enced, but  it  is  probable  that  the  amount  would  be  as 
a  drop  to  the  ocean  compared  with  what  is  now  ex- 
perienced. 

Under  such  a  constitution  of  things,  we  can  per- 
ceive, also,  that  there  would  be  no  suffering  from  the 
painful  emotions  ;  for  where  each  was  striving  to  at- 
tain the  g7'eatest  amount  of  good  to  all,  there  could 
be  no   competition,  no  jealousy,  no  envy,  no  pride, 


EIGHT   MODE   OF   MENTAL   ACTION.  215 

no  ambition,  no  anger,  no  hatred ;  for  there  would 
"be  no  occasion  for  any  of  these  discordant  emotions. 
Nor  could  remorse  harass,  or  shame  overwhelm  ;  for 
no  wickedness  would  be  perpetrated,  and  no  occasion 
of  reproach  occur.  Nor  could  fear  intrude,  where  ev- 
ery mind  was  conscious  that  its  own  happiness  was 
the  constant  care  of  every  one  around.  Nor  could 
painful  sympathy  exist,  where  so  little  pain  was  known. 
Nor  could  the  weariness  of  inactivity  be  felt,  where  all 
were  engaged  in  acting  for  one  noble  and  common  ob- 
ject, in  which  every  faculty  could  be  employed.  Nor 
could  the  mind  suffer  the  pangs  of  ungratified  desire, 
while  the  gratification  of  its  chief  desire  was  the  aim 
and  object  of  all.  So  that,  if  all  minds  should  act 
unitedly  and  habitually  on  this  principle,  there  would 
be  no  exposure,  except  to  sensitive  pain,  and  this 
danger  would  be  exceedingly  trifling. 

In  the  mean  time,  every  source  of  happiness  would 
be  full  and  overflowing.  AU  sensitive  enjoyments 
that  would  not  cause  suffering,  nor  interfere  with  the 
happiness  of  others,  would  be  gained ;  admiration  and 
affection  would  be  given  and  reciprocated  ;  the  powers 
of  body  and  mind  would  be  actively  employed  in  giv- 
ing and  acquiring  happiness ;  the  pleasure  resulting 
from  the  exercise  of  physical  and  moral  power  would 
be  enjoyed,  and  employed  to  promote  the  enjoyment 
of  others ;  the  peace  of  conscious  rectitude  would 
dwell  in  every  bosom ;  the  consciousness  of  being  the 
cause  of  happiness  to  others  would  send  joy  to  the 
heart,  while  sympathy  in  the  general  happiness  would 
pour  in  its  unmeasured  tide.  But  this  happiness  could 
not  be  perfect  except  in  a  commonwealth  where  every 


216       THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

individual  was  perfectly  conformed  to  the  laws  of  rec- 
titude. A  single  mind  that  violated  a  single  law  would 
send  a  jar  through  the  whole  sphere  of  benevolent  and 
sympathizing  beings. 

The  next  question  is,  How  can  mind  be  most  suc- 
cessfully influenced  to  right  action  ?  To  answer  this 
we  must  refer  again  to  experience,  and  inquire  as  to 
the  methods  which  have  been  found  most  successful  in 
influencing  the  mind  to  right  action. 

The  first  thing  which  experience  teaches  is,  that  it  is 
indispensable  to  right  mental  action  that  there  should 
be  a  knowledge  and  belief  of  the  truth.  We  must 
have  true  conceptions  of  reality  of  things,  and  of  the 
right  mode  of  promoting  the  greatest  possible  happi- 
ness, before  we  have  power  to  pursue  this  course. 

But  each  mind,  as  it  comes  into  existence,  is  a  per- 
fect blank  in  regard  to  knowledge  or  experience  of  any 
kind.  The  only  way  to  gain  knowledge  is  by  experi- 
ence and  instruction.  The  knowledge  secured  by  ex- 
perience as  to  the  laws  of  a  system  so  vast  and  com- 
plicated comes  very  slowly  and  imperfectly.  The 
chief  reliance  in  the  beginning  of  existence  is  on  the 
instructions  of  other  minds.  Infallible  teachers,  and 
jperfect  faith  or  belief  in  such  teachers,  then,  is  the 
grand  necessity  of  mind  as  it  begins  existence. 

The  next  thing  which  experience  shows  to  be  effect- 
ive in  securing  the  right  action  of  mind  is  the  forma- 
tion of  right  habits.  For  this,  also,  the  new-made  be- 
ing is  entirely  dependent  on  those  to  whom  is  given  its 
early  training.  It  comes  into  life  without  any  knowl- 
edge and  without  any  habits,  a  creature  of  mere  im- 
pulses and  instincts.     Its  very  first  want  is  not  only 


EIGHT   MODE    OF   MENTAL   ACTION.  217 

infallible  teachers,  but  patient  educators,  who  shall,  by 
constant  care  and  effort,  form  its  physical,  intellectual, 
social,  and  moral  habits. 

The  next  indispensable  requisite  to  the  right  action 
of  mind  is  the  existence  of  a  ruling  generic  jmrpose  to 
obey  all  the  laws  of  rectitude. 

It  has  already  been  shown  how  all  the  powers  of 
the  mind  are  regulated  and  controlled  by  the  leading 
purpose,  and  that  it  is  impossible  to  bring  all  the  de- 
sires, emotions,  and  subordinate  volitions  into  right  ac- 
tion except  by  the  power  of  such  a  principle. 

But  experience  has  proved  that  such  a  generic  pur- 
pose wiU  not  either  be  originated  or  sustained  except 
by  the  social  influences  of  surrounding  minds  through 
the  principles  of  love,  gratitude,  sympathy,  and  ex- 
ample. 

The  power  of  these  principles  may  be  illustrated  by 
supposing  the  case  of  a  mature  mind  already  embar- 
rassed with  habits  of  self-indulgence  and  selfishness. 
Let  such  a  person  be  placed  in  the  most  endeared  and 
intimate  communion  with  a  being  possessed  of  every 
possible  attraction  which  is  delightful  to  the  human 
mind.  Let  him  feel  that  he  is  the  object  of  the  most 
tender  and  devoted  affection  to  such  an  exalted  friend, 
and,  spite  of  his  own  faults  and  deficiencies,  realize 
that  his  own  affection  is  desired  and  his  communion 
sought.  Let  him,  in  all  his  daily  pursuits,  be  attend- 
ed by  the  desired  presence  of  the  one  in  whom  his 
hopes  centre  and  his  affections  repose ;  one  in  whom 
he  sees  every  possible  exhibition  of  disinterestedness, 
tenderness,  and  love,  not  only  toward  himself,  but  all 
other  beinos  who  come  within  the  circle  of  such  be- 

o 

K 


218  THE   BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

nevolence.  Let  him  discover  that  the  practice  of  all 
that  is  excellent  and  benevolent  by  himself  is  the  ob- 
ject of  unceasing  desire  to  this  devoted  friend.  Let 
him  discover  that,  to  save  him  from  the  consequences 
of  some  guilty  act  of  selfishness,  this  friend  had  sub- 
mitted to  the  most  painful  sacrifices,  and  only  asked  as 
a  return  those  efibrts  which  were  necessary  to  overcome 
such  pernicious  habits.  Let  him  feel  that  this  friend, 
though  pained  by  his  deficiencies,  could  forbear  and 
forgive,  and  continue  his  love  in  spite  of  them  all.  Let 
him  know  that  his  attainment  of  perfect  virtue  was  the 
object  of  intense  desire,  and  was  watched  with  the  most 
exulting  joy  by  so  good  and  so  perfect  a  being,  and  is 
it  possible  to  conceive  a  stronger  pressure  of  motive 
which  could  be  brought  to  act  on  a  selfish  mind? 
Would  not  every  human  being  exclaim,  "  Give  me 
such  a  friend,  and  I  should  be  selfish  no  more.  His 
presence  and  his  love  would  be  my  strength  in  foiling 
every  wrong  desire  and  in  conquering  every  baneful 
habit." 

This  illustration  enables  us  to  realize  more  clearly 
the  power  of  love  and  gratitude  toward  another  mind, 
and  the  reflex  influence  of  love  of  sympathy  and  of 
example.  Could  the  young  mind  be  placed  under  the 
training  of  such  minds,  and  in  circumstances  where 
all  the  rules  of  right  and  wrong  were  perfectly  under- 
stood, it  can  be  seen  that  the  habits  would  early  be 
formed  aright,  and  that  the  difficulties  against  which 
the  mature  mind  has  to  struggle  would  be  escaped. 

Could  we  suppose  a  community  of  such  elevated  ma- 
ture educators,  with  young  minds  of  various  degrees  of 
advancement  under  their  training,  it  can  be  seen  that 


RIGHT  MODE  OF  MENTAL   ACTION.  219 

the  social  influences  of  all  would  produce  a  moral  at- 
mosphere that  would  add  great  power  to  the  individ- 
ual influences.  What  every  body  loves,  honors,  and 
admires,  secures  a  moral  force  over  young  minds  al- 
most invincible,  even  when  it  sustains  false  and  wick- 
ed customs.  How  much  greater  this  power  when  it 
co-operates  with  the  intellect,  the  moral  sense,  and  the 
will  in  leading  to  right  action  ! 

The  result  of  all  this  is  to  show,  as  the  result  of  rea- 
son and  experience,  that  it  is  indispensable  to  the  per- 
fectly right  action  of  mind  to  secure  infallible  and  per- 
fect educators. 

Meantime,  the  degree  in  which  any  individual  mind, 
or  any  community,  has  or  will  approach  to  such  per- 
fection, depends  entirely  on  the  extent  to  which  such 
a  character  can  be  secured  in  those  who  are  to  train 
young  minds.  The  history  of  individual  families  and 
of  large  communities  shows  that  their  advance,  both 
in  intellectual  and  moral  development,  has  exactly 
coiTCsponded  with  the  character  of  those  who  educated 
the  young. 


220  THE   BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

WRONG  ACTION   OF  MIND  AND  ITS   CAUSES. 

We  have  exhibited  the  object  for  which  mind  was 
created,  and  the  mode  of  action  by  which  alone  this 
object  can  be  secured. 

We  next  inquire  in  regard  to  the  wrong  action  of 
mind  ;  its  causes  and  its  results  as  learned  by  reason 
and  experience. 

According  to  the  principles  set  forth,  a  mind  acts 
wrong  whenever  it  transgresses  any  law.  The  grand 
law  is  that  of  sacrifice^  by  which  every  mode  of  enjoy- 
ment is  to  be  relinquished  which  does  not  tend  to  the 
greatest  possible  happiness  with  the  least  possible  evil. 

Having  set  forth  those  influences  or  causes  which 
tend  to  secure  the  right  action  of  mind,  we  are  ena- 
bled thus  to  indicate  what  are  the  causes  of  its  wrong 
action. 

The  first  and  leading  cause  is  a  want  of  knowledge 
of  the  truth  and  a  belief  of  error.  We  begin  exist- 
ence without  knowledge  of  any  kind,  and  without  any 
power  to  receive  instruction  from  others.  The  new- 
born mind  is  a  mere  unit  of  impulses  and  instincts,  with 
an  intellect  entirely  undeveloped,  and  a  will  which  nev- 
er can  act  intelligently.  It  is  entirely  dependent  for 
its  experience,  safety,  enjoyment,  and  knowledge  of  all 
kinds  on  those  around.  As  it  gains  by  experience 
and  training,  much  of  its  knowledge  and  belief  is  cor- 


WEONG  ACTION   OF   MIND   AND   ITS   CAUSES.       221 

rect,  and  many  of  its  mental  acts  are  right;  but  a 
large  portion  of  its  actions  are  wrong,  and  many  of 
them  inevitably  so. 

And  here  we  must  recognize  again  the  distinction 
which  our  moral  nature  demands  between  wrong  ac- 
tions that  result  from  unavoidable  ignorance,  and  those 
which  are  committed  intelligently  and  which  violate 
conscience.  In  regard  to  the  first  class,  the  natural 
penalties  are  inevitable,  and  the  justice  of  them  in- 
volves the  great  question  of  the  Creator's  character 
and  designs.  In  regard  to  those  that  violate  con- 
science, our  moral  nature,  as  has  been  shown,  leads 
us  not  only  to  approve  additional  penalties,  but  to  de- 
mand them. 

The  violations  of  law  which  are  sins  of  ignorance 
commence  with  the  earliest  period  of  existence.  Ow- 
ing to  its  helpless  ignorance,  often  the  little  child  can 
no  more  help  acting  wrong  than  it  can  help  thinking 
and  feeling. 

A  second  cause  of  wrong  action  is  false  teachings. 
Although  a  large  portion  of  the  insti'uction  given  to  the 
young,  especially  in  regard  to  physical  laws,  are  true, 
yet  the  infant  commences  life  among  imperfectly  in- 
structed beings,  who  often  communicate  error  believing 
it  to  be  truth.  Meantime  the  little  one  has  no  power 
of  coiTecting  these  errors,  and  thus  again  is  inevitably 
led  to  wrong  action. 

A  third  cause  of  wrong  action  is  the  want  of  good 
habits  and  the  early  formation  of  bad  ones.  As  a  hab- 
it is  a  facility  of  action  gained  hy  rej)etition^  of  course, 
at  first,  there  can  be  no  habits.  And  then  what  the 
habits  shall  be  is  entirely  decided  by  the  opinions  and 


222  THE   BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

conduct  of  its  educators.  While  some  habits  are 
formed  aright,  others  are  formed  wrong,  and  thus  the 
disability  of  nature  is  increased  instead  of  diminished. 

The  next  cause  of  wrong  action  is  those  social  in- 
fluences of  other  minds  that  have  most  power  both  in 
securing  and  sustaining  right  action.  In  the  previous 
chapter  we  have  illustrated  the  power  of  the  principles 
of  love,  gratitude,  synvpathy,  and  exarnple  in  securing 
right  action. 

The  same  powerful  influences  exist  in  reference  to 
wrong  action.  The  child  who  loves  its  parents  and 
playmates  is  not  only  taught  to  believe  wrong  action 
to  be  right,  but  has  all  the  powerful  influences  which 
example,  sympathy,  love,  and  gratitude  can  combine  to 
lead  to  the  same  wrong  courses.  Thus,  to  the  natural 
ignorance  of  inexperienced  mind,  to  false  instructions, 
and  to  bad  habits,  are  often  added  these  most  power- 
ful of  all  influences. 

The  next  cause  of  wrong  action  is  the  want  of  a 
ruling  purpose  to  do  right.  It  has  been  shown  that 
all  the  powers  of  the  intellect  and  aU  the  susceptibili- 
ties can  be  regulated  by  a  generic  ruling  purpose,  and 
that  it  is  impossible,  according  to  the  nature  of  mind, 
to  regulate  it  any  other  way. 

When  such  a  purpose  exists,  and  its  object  is  any 
other  except  the  right  and  true  one,  it  is  as  impossi- 
ble for  a  mind  to  act  right  as  it  is  for  a  machine  to  ful- 
fill its  design  when  the  main  wheel  is  turned  the  wrong 
way. 

That  such  a  purpose  does  not  exist  in  the  new-bom 
mind,  and  that  it  must  be  a  considerable  time  before  it 
is  possible,  in  the  nature  of  things,  to  be  originated, 


WRONG   ACTION   OF   MIND   AND   ITS   CAUSES.    223 

needs  no  attempt  to  illustrate.  Such  a  purpose  is  de- 
pendent on  knowledge  of  truth,  on  habits,  and  these 
on  the  character  of  the  educators  of  mind,  and  on  other 
surrounding  social  influences. 

These  are  the  chief  causes  of  the  wrong  action  of 
mind  as  they  have  been  developed  by  experience. 

In  the  next  chapters  we  shall  consider  the  results  of 
the  wrong  action  of  mind  as  they  have  been  exhibited 
in  the  experience  of  mankind,  and  as  they  are  to  be 
anticipated  in  a  future  world. 


224  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

WEONa  ACTION   OF   MIND,  AND   ITS   KESULTS   IN   THIS 
LIFE. 

We  have  examined  into  the  causes  of  the  wrong  ac- 
tion of  mind,  and  have  found  them  to  consist  m  the 
want  of  knowledge,  want  of  habits,  want  of  social  influ- 
ences from  other  minds,  and  want  of  a  right  governing 
purpose,  all  of  which,  so  far  as  reason  and  experience 
teach,  alone  could  he  secured  by  perfect  and  infalli- 
ble teachers  and  educators  in  a  perfect  commonwealth. 

We  are  now  to  inquire  in  regard  to  the  wrong  ac- 
tion of  mind  and  its  results  in  this  life. 

The  first  point  to  be  noticed  is  the  fact  that  from 
the  first  there  is  in  every  intelligent  mind  a  sense  of 
entire  inability  to  obey  the  laws  of  the  system  in 
which  it  is  placed. 

This  is  true  not  merely  in  reference  to  that  breach 
of  law  which  is  the  inevitable  result  of  ignorance, 
but  of  that  also  which  involves  a  violation  of  con- 
science. Where  is  the  mother  who  has  not  heard 
the  distressed  confession,  even  from  the  weeping  in- 
fant, that  he  was  happier  in  doing  right  than  in  doing 
wrong,  that  he  wished  to  do  well,  and  yet  that  he  was 
constantly  doing  evil  ?  Where  is  the  parent  that  has 
not  witnessed,  as  one  little  being  after  another  passed 
on  from  infancy  to  youth,  and  from  youth  to  manhood, 
the  perpetual  warfare  to  sustain  good  purposes  and  oft- 
broken  resolutions  ?    And  where  is  the  conscious  spir- 


WKONG  ACTION  OF  MIND  AND  ITS  RESULTS.       225 

it  that  can  not  look  back  on  its  whole  course  of  exist- 
ence as  one  continued  exhibition  of  a  conflict  that  gives 
unvarying  evidence  of  this  truth  ?  'Men  feel  that  it 
is  as  impossible  for  them  to  be  invariably  perfect  in 
thought,  word,  and  deed,  as  it  is  to  rule  the  winds  and 
waves. 

The  testimony  of  mankind  through  every  period  of 
the  world,  in  regard  to  their  own  individual  conscious- 
ness, attests  a  sense  of  the  same  fatal  inability.  K  we 
go  back  even  as  far  as  to  the  heathen  sages  of  antiq- 
uity, we  gain  the  same  acknowledgment.  Thus  we 
find  Pythagoras  calls  it  "  the  fatal  companion,  the  nox- 
ious strife  that  lurks  within  us,  and  wliich  was  born 
along  with  us."  Sopator  terms  it  "the  sin  that  is 
bom  with  mankind."  Plato  denominates  it  "natui'al 
wickedness,"  and  Aristotle  "the  natural  repugnance  of 
man's  temper  to  reason."  Cicero  declares  that  "men 
are  brought  into  life  by  Nature  as  a  step-mother,  with 
a  naked,  frail,  and  infirm  body,  and  with  a  soul  prone 
to  divers  lusts."  Seneca  observes,  "We  are  born  in 
such  a  condition  that  we  are  not  subject  to  fewer  dis- 
orders of  the  mind  than  of  the  body ;  all  vices  are  in 
men,  though  they  do  not  break  out  in  every  one." 
Propertius  says  that  "  every  body  has  a  vice  to  which 
he  is  inclined  by  nature."  Juvenal  asserts  that  "na- 
ture, unchangeably  fixed,  runs  back  to  wickedness." 
Horace  declares  that  "no  man  is  free  from  vices,  and 
he  is  the  best  man  who  is  oppressed  with  the  least." 
He  adds  that  "mankind  rush  into  wickedness,  and  al- 
ways desire  what  is  forbidden ;"  that  "youth  has  the 
softness  of  wax  to  receive  vicious  impressions,  and  the 
hardness  of  rock  to  resist  virtuous  admonitions ;"  that 
K2 


226  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

"  we  are  mad  enough  to  attack  Heaven  itself,  and  our 
repeated  crimes  do  not  suffer  the  God  of  Heaven  to  lay 
aside  his  wrathful  thunderbolts." 

This  testimony  of  individual  experience  is  verified 
by  the  general  history  of  mankind.  All  the  laws  and 
institutions  of  society  are  founded  on  the  principle  that 
mankind  are  prone  to  wrong,  infirm  of  purpose  in  all 
that  is  good,  and  that  every  possible  restraint  is  need- 
ed to  prevent  the  overbreaking  tide  of  evil  and  crime. 
When  we  read  the  history  of  communities  and  of  na- 
tions, it  is  one  continued  record  of  selfishness,  avarice, 
injustice,  revenge,  and  cruelty.  Individuals  seem  equal- 
ly plotting  against  the  happiness  of  individuals,  and 
rejoicing  to  work  evils  on  society.  Communities  rise 
against  communities,  and  nations  dash  against  nations. 
Tyrants  fill  their  dominions  with  sorrow,  misery,  and 
death;  bloody  heroes,  followed  by  infuriate  bands, 
spread  havoc,  ruin,  and  dismay  through  all  their  course, 
while  superstition  binds  in  chains,  racks  with  tortures, 
and  sacrifices  its  millions  of  victims. 

In  tracing  along  the  history  of  mankind,  there  is  no 
period  which  we  can  select  when  mankind  have  not 
seemed  as  busy  in  destroying  their  own,  and  the  hap- 
piness of  others,  as  the  lower  animals  are  in  seeking 
their  appropriate  enjoyments.  At  one  time  we  behold 
Xerxes  pouring  forth  all  Asia  upon  Europe,  where 
three  million  beings  were  brought  to  be  slaughtered  by 
the  Greeks.  At  another  time  the  Greeks,  headed  by 
Alexander,  return  upon  Asia,  and  spread  over  most  of 
the  known  world,  pillaging,  burning,  and  slaughtering. 
Then  we  behold  Alaric,  at  the  head  of  barbarous 
hordes,  desolating  aU  the  Koman  empire,  and  destroy- 


WRONG  ACTION  OF  MIND  AND  ITS  RESULTS.      227 

ing  the  monuments  of  taste,  science,  and  the  arts. 
Then  we  see  Tamerlane  rushing  forth,  overrunning 
Persia,  India,  and  other  parts  of  Asia,  carrying  carnage 
and  the  most  desolating  cruelty  in  his  course,  so  that 
it  is  recorded  that  he  would  cause  thousands  of  his 
prisoners  to  be  pounded  in  mortars  with  bricks  to  form 
into  walls. 

From  Europe  we  behold  six  millions  of  Crusaders 
rush  forth  upon  the  plains  of  Asia,  with  rapine,  and 
famine,  and  outrage  attending  their  course.  Then 
come  forth  from  Eastern  Asia  the  myrmidons  of  Gen- 
ghis Khan,  ravaging  fifteen  millions  of  square  miles, 
beheading  100,000  prisoners  at  one  time,  shaking  the 
whole  earth  with  terror,  and  exterminating  fourteen 
millions  of  their  fellow-men.  Then  from  the  northern 
forests  are  seen  swarming  forth  the  Goths  and  Van- 
dals, sweeping  over  Europe  and  Asia,  and  bearing 
away  every  vestige  of  arts,  civilization,  comfort,  and 
peace.  At  another  time  we  see  the  professed  head  of 
the  Christian  Church  slaughtering  the  pious  and  inof- 
fensive Albigenses,  sending  horror  into  their  peaceful 
villages,  and  torturing  thousands  of  inoffensive  vic- 
tims. 

At  one  period  of  history  the  whole  known  world 
seemed  to  be  one  vast  field  of  carnage  and  commotion. 
The  Huns,  Vandals,  and  other  Northern  barbarians 
were  ravaging  France,  Germany,  and  Spain ;  the  Goths 
were  plundering  and  murdering  in  Italy,  and  the  Sax- 
ons and  Angles  were  overrunning  Great  Britain.  The 
Roman  armies  under  Justinian,  together  with  the  Van- 
dals and  Huns,  were  desolating  Africa ;  the  barbarians 
of  Scythia  were  pouring  down  upon  the  Eoman  em- 


228  THE   BIBLE   AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

pire;  the  Persian  armies  were  pillaging  and  laying 
waste  the  countries  of  Asia ;  the  Arabians,  under  Mo- 
hammed, were  beginning  to  extend  their  conquests  over 
Syria,  Palestine,  Egypt,  Barbary,  and  Spain.  Every 
nation  and  kingdom  on  earth  was  shaking  to  its  cen- 
tre. The  smoke  and  the  spirits  of  the  bottomless  pit 
seemed  coming  up  to  darken,  and  torment,  and  affright 
mankind.  The  most  fertile  countries  were  converted 
to  deserts,  and  covered  with  ruins  of  once  flourishing 
cities  and  villages ;  the  most  fiendish  cruelty  was  prac- 
ticed ;  famine  raged  to  such  a  degree  that  the  living 
fed  upon  the  dead;  prisoners  were  tortured  by  the 
most  refined  systems  of  cruelty  ;  public  edifices  were 
destroyed  ;  the  monuments  of  science  and  the  arts  per- 
ished ;  cruelty,  fraud,  avarice,  murder,  and  every  crime 
that  disgraces  humanity,  were  let  loose  upon  a  wretch- 
ed world.  Historians  seem  to  shudder  in  attempting 
to  picture  these  horrid  scenes,  and  would  draw  a  veil 
over  transactions  that  disgrace  mankind. 

If  from  ancient  times  we  look  at  the  present  state  of 
the  world,  at  its  present  most  refined  and  enlightened 
period,  the  same  mournful  evidence  is  discovered.  Cru- 
elty and  tyranny  have  changed  some  of  the  fairest 
provinces  of  Persia  to  deserts.  The  Turk  long  ago 
turned  the  land  of  the  patriarchs  and  prophets  to  a 
wilderness,  and  drenched  the  shores  of  Greece  with  the 
blood  of  slaughtered  victims,  while  Syria,  Kurdistan, 
and  Armenia  for  ages  have  been  ravaged  with  injus- 
tice and  rapine.  China  and  Japan  have  been  shut  out 
from  the  world  by  a  cold  and  jealous  selfishness.  In 
Tartary,  Arabia,  and  Siberia,  the  barbarous  tribes  are 
prowling  about  for  plunder,  or  engaged  in  murderous 


WKONG   ACTION   OF   MIND   AND   ITS   RESULTS.    229 

conflicts.  In  Africa,  the  Barbary  States  are  in  perpet- 
ual commotion  ;  the  petty  tyrants  of  Benin,  Ashantee, 
and  other  interior  states  are  waging  ceaseless  wars,  mur- 
dering their  prisoners,  and  adorning  their  houses  with 
their  skulls ;  and  on  its  ravaged  coast  the  white  man- 
stealer,  for  hundreds  of  years,  has  been  prowling,  and 
bearing  off  thousands  of  wretches  as  a  yearly  oiFering 
to  the  avarice  of  the  most  refined  and  Christian  nations 
on  earth.  In  North  America,  we  have  seen  the  native 
tribes  employed  in  war,  and  practicing  the  most  fiend- 
ish barbarities,  while  in  South  America,  its  more  civ- 
ilized inhabitants  are  engaged  in  constant  political  and 
bloody  commotions.  In  the  islands  of  the  ocean  thou- 
sands of  human  beings  have  been  fighting  each  other, 
throwing  darts  and  stones  at  strangers,  offering  human 
sacrifices,  and  feasting  on  the  flesh  of  their  enemies. 

If  we  select  Europe  for  the  exhibition  of  human  na- 
ture as  seen  under  the  restraints  of  civilization,  laws, 
refinement,  and  religion,  the  same  evils  burst  forth 
from  bonds  and  restraints.  In  Europe,  for  ages,  the 
common  people,  in  slavery  and  ignorance,  have  been 
bowing  down  to  a  grinding  priesthood,  or  an  oppress- 
ive nobility  or  monarchical  tyranny.  Incessant  heav- 
ing of  the  troubled  nations  portends  desolation  and 
dismay,  as  man  seems  waking  from  the  slavery  of  ages 
to  shake  off  liis  fetters  and  call  himself  free. 

If  we  look  to  our  own  boasted  land  of  liberty  and 
religion,  what  toiling  of  selfish  and  discordant  inter- 
ests— what  mean  and  low-lived  arts  to  gain  honor  and 
power — what  shameful  attacks  on  fair  reputation  and 
unblemished  honor — what  collisions  of  party -strifes 
and  local  interests !     Here  also  the  curse  of  slavery 


230  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

brings  the  blush  of  shame  to  every  honest  man  that, 
from  year  to  year,  on  the  anniversary  of  the  national 
liberty,  hears  the  declarations  of  rights  this  very  nation 
is  trampling  under  foot.  Millions  of  slaves,  deprived 
of  the  best  blessing  and  the  dearest  rights  of  humani- 
ty, are  held  in  the  most  degrading  bondage  by  a  na- 
tion who  yearly  and  publicly  acknowledge  their  per- 
fect and  unalienable  rights. 

The  same  melancholy  view  is  no  less  clearly  wit- 
nessed in  the  opinions  and  moral  sentiments  of  man- 
kind. The  mind  of  man  is  fonned  to  love  happiness, 
to  be  pleased  with  what  promotes  it,  and  to  detest 
that  which  tends  to  destroy  it,  yet  the  long  reign  of 
selfishness  has  seemed  to  pervert  and  poison  even 
the  taste  and  moral  sentiments  of  men.  Who  is  the 
hero  sung  by  the  poet,  eulogized  by  the  statesman, 
and  flattered  by  the  orator  ?  Who  is  it  presented  in 
classic  language  to  the  gaze  of  enthusiastic  child- 
hood, and  pictured  forth  in  tales  of  romance  to  kin- 
dling youth  ? 

It  is  the  man  who  has  given  up  his  life  to  the  grat- 
ification of  pride,  and  the  love  of  honor  and  fame ;  the 
man  who,  to  gain  this  selfish  good,  can  plunge  the 
sword  into  the  bosom  of  thousands,  and  stand  the  un- 
pitying  spectator  of  burning  cities,  widowed  mothers, 
orphan  children,  desolated  fields,  and  the  long  train  of 
ills  that  he  wantonly  pours  on  mankind,  that  he  may 
gain  the  miserable  pittance  of  gaping  admiration  and 
dreadful  renown  which  rises  amid  the  tears  and  cries 
of  mankind.  It  is  the  man  who,  when  injured,  knows 
not  how  to  forgive — whose  stinted  soul  never  knew 
the  dignity  and  pleasure  of  giving  blessing  for  ill — 


WEONG   ACTION   OF   MIND   AND   ITS   RESULTS.    231 

who  deems  it  the  mark  of  honor  and  manhood  to  fol- 
low the  example  of  the  whining  infant,  that,  when  he 
is  struck,  with  the  same  noble  spirit  will  strike  back 
again. 

Meantime,  the  calm  forbearance  and  true  dignity  of 
virtue,  that  would  be  humbled  at  recrimination  and 
can  not  condescend  to  retaliate,  is  put  in  the  back- 
ground as  unworthy  such  honors  and  eulogy.  Thus, 
also,  we  find  intellect,  which  the  Creator  designed  only 
as  the  instrument  of  securing  happiness,  though  per- 
verted to  vice  and  folly,  applauded  and  admired ;  and 
even  some  of  those  admired  as  among  the  wisest  of 
mankind  have  often  placed  true  virtue  and  goodness 
below  the  fancied  splendors  of  genius  and  learning. 
All  the  maxims,  and  honors,  and  employments  of 
mankind  develop  the  perverted  action  of  the  noblest 
part  of  the  creation  of  God  in  all  its  relations  and  in 
all  its  principles  and  pursuits. 

It  is  into  such  a  world  as  this  that  every  new-bom 
mind  is  ushered  without  knowledge  to  guide,  without 
habits  to  strengthen,  without  the  power  of  forming  a 
ruling  purpose  to  do  right  which  shall  control  all  sub- 
ordinate volitions. 

Instead  of  meeting  perfect  educators  to  instruct  in 
the  laws  of  the  system,  to  form  good  habits,  and  to 
exert  all  the  powerful  social,  domestic,  and  civil  influ- 
ences aright,  every  one  of  these  powerful  principles  are 
fatally  wrong.  Parents,  teachers,  companions,  and 
rulers,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  teach  wrong,  train 
wrong,  and  set  wrong  examples,  while  the  whole  moral 
atmosphere  is  contaminated  and  paralyzing. 

In  these  circumstances,  it  is  as  impossible  for  a 


232  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

young  mind  to  commence  existence  here  with  perfect 
obedience  to  law,  and  to  continue  through  life  in  a 
course  of  perfect  rectitude,  as  it  is  for  it,  by  its  feeble 
will,  to  regulate  the  winds  of  heaven,  or  turn  back  the 
tides  of  the  ocean. 


WRONG   ACTION   OF  MIND  AND   ITS  RESULTS.    233 


CHAPTER  XXVn. 

WRONG  ACTION  OF  MIND,  AND   ITS  RESULTS   IN  A  FU- 
TURE  STATE. 

We  are  now  to  inquire  as  to  the  results  of  the 
wrong  action  of  mind  in  a  future  state,  so  far  as  rea- 
son and  experience  can  furnish  data  for  any  antici- 
pations. 

The  following  are  the  principles  of  mind  from  which 
we  reason  on  this  subject.  It  appears  that  its  consti- 
tution is  such  that  the  repetition  of  one  particular 
mode  of  securing  happiness  induces  a  habit ;  and  that 
the  longer  a  habit  continues,  the  more  powerful  is  its 
force.  An  early  habit  of  selfishness  is  always  formed 
in  the  human  mind,  and  the  penalties  following  from 
self-indulgence  and  selfishness  are  not  sufficient  to  pre- 
vent the  continued  increase  of  this  habit.  Though 
men,  from  the  very  beginning  of  existence,  feel  that 
they  are  happier  in  obeying  the  dictates  of  conscience, 
and  that  increase  of  guilt  is  increase  of  sorrow,  yet 
this  does  not  save  them,  in  numberless  cases,  from  in- 
creasing evil  habits. 

'  It  is  also  established  by  experience  that,  when  a 
strong  habit  is  formed,  the  mere  decisions  of  the  will 
are  not  sufficient  for  an  immediate  remedy.  In  this 
life,  it  requires  a  period  of  long  and  painful  efibrts  of 
the  will  to  rectify  an  established  habit.  Every  human 
being  is  conscious  how  difficult  it  is  to  force  the  mental 
and  bodily  faculties  to  obey  its  decisions  when  con- 


234  THE   BIBLE  AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

trary  to  the  stream  of  a  long-indulged  habit.  There 
are  few  who  have  not  either  experienced  or  witnessed 
the  anguish  of  spirit  that  has  followed  the  violations 
of  solemn  resolutions,  those  firmest  decisions  of  the 
will,  in  the  contest  between  habit  and  conscience. 

Another  principle  of  mind  is  this,  that  when  selfish- 
ness and  crime  have  been  long  indulged,  the  natural 
constitution  of  mind  seems  changed,  so  that  inflicting 
evil  on  others  is  sought  as  an  enjoyment.  In  illus- 
tration of  this,  it  is  related  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes 
that,  in  his  wars  with  the  Jews,  after  all  opposition  had 
ceased,  and  all  danger  and  cause  of  fear  was  removed, 
he  destroyed  thousands  for  the  mere  pleasure  of  seeing 
them  butchered.  An  anecdote  is  related  of  him,  too 
horrible  to  record  in  all  its  particulars,  where  he  sat 
and  feasted  his  eyes  on  the  sufferings  of  a  mother  and 
her  seven  sons,  when  the  parent  was  doomed  to  wit- 
ness the  infliction  of  the  most  excruciating  and  pro- 
tracted tortures  on  each  of  her  seven  children,  and  then 
was  tortured  to  death  herself. 

It  is  recorded  of  Mustapha,  one  of  the  Turkish 
sultans,  that  by  honorable  capitulations  he  gained  the 
person  of  a  brave  Venetian  commander  called  Brag- 
adino,  who  was  defending  his  country  from  the  cru- 
elty of  invaders.  After  having  promised  him  honor- 
able protection,  he  ordered  him,  bound  hand  and  foot, 
to  behold  the  massacre  of  his  soldiers,  then  caused  his 
person  to  be  cut  and  mutilated  in  the  most  horrible 
manner,  and  then  taunted  him  as  a  worshiper  of  Christ, 
who  could  not  save  his  servants.  When  recovered  of 
his  wounds,  he  obliged  him  to  carry  loaded  buckets  of 
earth  before  the  army,  and  kiss  the  ground  whenever 


WRONG  ACTION  OF  MIND  AND   ITS  RESULTS.    235 

he  passed  his  barbarous  tormentor.  He  then  had  him 
hung  in  a  cage,  to  be  tormented  by  his  own  soldiers, 
who  were  chained  as  galley-slaves,  that  they  might  be 
agonized  by  the  indignities  and  sufferings  of  their  ven- 
erated commander.  After  the  most  protracted  suffer- 
ings and  indignities  in  the  public  place,  at  the  sound 
of  music  he  was  flayed  alive. 

The  history  of  some  of  the  Roman  emperors,  even 
of  some  who,  m  early  childhood  and  youth,  were  gen- 
tle, amiable,  and  kind,  presents  the  same  horrible  pic- 
ture. Nero  set  fire  to  Eome,  and  dressed  the  Christians 
in  garments  of  flaming  pitch,  to  run  about  his  garden 
for  his  amusement.  Tiberius  tormented  his  subjects, 
and  murdered  them  in  cruel  pangs,  to  gratify  his  love 
of  suffering,  while  Caligula  butchered  his  people  for 
amusement  with  his  own  hand. 

The  mind  turns  with  horror  from  such  revolting 
scenes,  and  asks  if  it  is  possible  human  nature  now 
can  be  so  perverted  and  debased.  But  this  is  the  hu- 
mihating  record  of  some  of  the  amusements,  even  of 
our  own  countrymen,  that  have  occurred  in  some  parts 
of  this  refined  and  Christian  nation.  "Many  of  the 
interludes  are  filled  up  with  a  boxing  match,  which  be- 
comes memorable  by  feats  of  gouging.  When  two 
boxers  are  wearied  with  fighting  and  bruising  each 
other,  they  come  to  close  quarters,  each  endeavoring 
to  twist  his  forefinger  into  the  earlocks  of  his  antag- 
onist. When  they  are  thus  fast  clenched,  the  thumbs 
are  extended,  and  both  the  eyes  are  turned  out  of  their 
sockets.  The  victor  is  hailed  with  shouts  of  applause 
from  the  sporting  throng,  while  his  poor  antagonist, 
thus  blinded  for  life,  is  laughed  at  for  his  misfortune." 


236       THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

One  very  striking  fact  bearing  on  this  subject  has 
been  established  by  experience,  and  that  is,  that  extreme 
suffering^  either  mental  or  bodily,  tends  to  awaken  the 
desire  to  inflict  evil  upon  other  minds.  This  is  prob- 
ably one  mode  of  accounting  for  the  increased  cruelty 
of  the  Eoman  emperors.  As  the  powers  of  enjoyment 
diminished  by  abuse,  and  the  horrors  of  guilt  harassed 
their  spirits,  this  dreadful  desire  to  torment  others  was 
awakened. 

There  are  many  undisputed  facts  to  establish  the 
principle  that  extreme  suffering  is  the  cause  of  terrible 
malignity.  The  following  is  from  a  statement  of  Mr. 
Byron,  who  was  shipwrecked  on  the  coast  of  South 
America ;  "  So  terrible  was  the  scene  of  foaming  break- 
ers, that  one  of  the  bravest  men  could  not  help  ex- 
pressing his  dismay,  saying  it  was  too  shocking  to 
bear.  In  this  dreadful  situation  malignant  passions  be- 
gan to  appear.  The  crew  grew  extremely  riotous,  and 
fell  to  beating  every  thing  in  their  way,  and  broke  open 
chests  and  cabins  for  plunder  that  could  be  of  no  use. 
So  earnest  were  they  in  this  wantonness  of  theft,  that 
in  the  morning  a  strangled  corpse  was  found  of  one 
who  had  contested  the  spoil." 

A  still  more  terrible  picture  is  given  in  an  account 
of  the  loss  of  the  ]\Iedusa  frigate  on  the  coast  of  Afri- 
ca. In  the  midst  of  dreadful  suffering  from  cold,  dan- 
ger, and  famine,  it  is  recorded  that  "a  spirit  of  sedi- 
tion arose  and  manifested  itself  by  furious  shouts.  The 
soldiers  and  sailors  began  to  cut  the  ropes,  and  de- 
clared their  intention  of  murdering  the  officers.  About 
midnight,  they  rushed  on  the  officers  like  desperate 
men,  each  having  a  knife  or  sabre,  and  such  was  their 


WRONG   ACTION   OF   MIND   AND   ITS   RESULTS.    237 

fury  that  they  tore  their  clothes  and  their  flesh  with 
their  teeth.  The  next  morning  the  raft  was  strewed  with 
dead  bodies.  The  succeeding  night  was  passed  in  sim- 
ilar horrors,  and  the  morning  sun  saw  twelve  more  life- 
less bodies.  The  next  night  of  suffering  was  attended 
with  a  horrid  massacre,  and  thus  it  continued  till  only 
fifteen  remained  of  the  whole  one  hundred  and  fifty!" 

Another  principle  of  mind  having  a  bearing  on  this 
subject  is  the  fact  that  those  qualities  of  mind  which 
are  the  causes  of  enjoyment  in  others  around  may  be 
viewed  with  only  pain  and  dislike  by  a  selfish  per- 
son. Thus  intellectual  superiority,  in  itself  consid- 
ered, is  a  delightful  object  of  contemplation  ;  but  if  it 
becomes  the  means  of  degradation  or  of  contemptuous 
comparison  to  a  selfish  mind,  it  is  viewed  with  unmin- 
gled  pain.  Benevolence  and  truth  are  objects  of  de- 
lightful contemplation  to  all  minds  when  disconnected 
with  obligations  or  painful  comparisons,  but  if  they 
are  viewed  as  causes  of  evil  to  a  selfish  mind,  it  will 
view  them  with  unmingled  dislike  and  hatred. 

Now  we  find  that  there  are  two  classes  of  minds  in 
this  world  :  those  who  are  more  or  less  benevolent,  and 
find  their  happiness  in  living  to  promote  the  general 
interests  of  their  fellow-beings,  and  those  who  are  self- 
ish, and  are  living  to  promote  their  own  enjoyment  ir- 
respective of  the  general  happiness. 

If,  then,  we  reason  from  the  known  laws  of  mind 
and  from  past  experience,  we  must  suppose  that  the 
habits  of  mind  which  are  existing  in  this  life  will  con- 
tinue to  increase,  and  if  the  mind  is  immortal,  a  time 
must  come  when  one  class  will  become  perfectly  be- 
nevolent and  the  other  perfectly  selfish.     A  communi- 


238       THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

ty  of  perfectly  benevolent  beings,  it  has  been  shown, 
would,  from  the  very  nature  and  constitution  of  mind, 
be  a  perfectly  happy  community.  Every  source  of 
enjoyment  of  which  mmd  is  capable  would  be  secured 
by  every  individual. 

It  can  be  seen,  also,  that  there  must,  in  the  nature 
of  the  case,  be  an  entire  separation  between  two  such 
opposite  classes ;  for  it  is  as  painful  for  minds  suffer- 
ing from  conscious  guilt,  shame,  and  malignity,  to  look 
upon  purity,  benevolence,  and  happiness,  as  it  is  for  the 
virtuous  to  associate  with  the  selfish,  the  debased,  and 
the  abandoned.  This  separation,  therefore,  would  be 
a  voluntary  one  on  both  sides,  even  did  we  suppose 
no  interference  of  Deity.  But  if  the  Creator  contin- 
ues his  present  constitution  of  things,  we  may  infer 
that  his  power  would  be  exerted  to  prevent  the  intru- 
sion of  malignity  into  a  perfect  and  well-ordered  com- 
munity; for  he  has  so  constituted  things  here^  that 
those  who  are  incomgible  pests  to  society  are  confined 
from  interfering  with  its  interests. 

From  the  laws  of  mind,  then,  and  fi'om  past  expe- 
rience as  to  the  tendencies  of  things,  we  can  establish 
the  position  that,  at  some  future  period,  if  the  mind  of 
man  is  immortal,  the  human  race  will  be  permanently 
divided  into  two  classes,  the  perfectly  selfish  and  the 
perfectly  benevolent. 

Should  it  be  objected  to  this  conclusion  that  when 
the  mind  passes  into  another  world  more  effectual  mo- 
tives may  be  brought  to  operate,  it  may  be  replied  that 
it  is  not  the  office  of  reason  to  meet  suppositions  of 
jpossihilities^  but  to  show  what  the  probabilities  are 
by  deductions  from  principles  already  known.    A  thou- 


WEONG  ACTION   OF  MIND  AND  ITS  RESULTS.    239 

sand  possibilities  may  be  asserted,  such  as  the  annihi- 
lation of  mind  or  the  alteration  of  its  powers,  but  these 
are  mere  suppositions,  and  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  conclusions  of  reason. 

If  mind  is  immortal  and  continues  its  present  na- 
ture, habits  will  continue  to  strengthen ;  and  in  regard 
to  motives,  we  know  already  that  the  fear  of  evil  con- 
sequences will  not  save  from  continuance  in  crime. 
How  often  has  a  man  who  has  yielded  to  habits  of 
guilt  been  seen  writhing  in  the  agonies  of  remorse, 
longing  to  free  himself  jfrom  the  terrible  evils  he  has 
drawn  around  him,  acknowledging  the  misery  of  his 
course  and  his  ability  to  return  to  virtue,  and  yet,  with 
bitter  anguish,  yielding  to  the  force  of  inveterate  hab- 
its and  despairing  of  any  remedy. 

We  know,  also,  that  it  is  a  principle  established  by 
long  experience,  that  punishment  does  not  tend  to  soft- 
en and  reform.  Where  is  the  hardened  culprit  that 
was  ever  brought  to  repentance  and  reformation  by 
lashes  or  the  infliction  of  degradation  ?  Such  means 
serve  only  to  harden  and  brutify.  Experience  forbids 
the  hope  that  punishment  will  ever  restore  a  selfish 
and  guilty  mind  to  virtue  and  peace. 

Beason  and  experience,  then,  both  lead  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  two  classes  of  minds  into  which  mankind 
are  here  divided  will,  on  leaving  this  world,  eventually 
become  two  permanently  distinct  communities — one 
perfectly  selfish,  and  the  other  perfectly  benevolent. 

What,  then,  would  reason  and  experience  teach  us 
as  to  the  probable  situation  of  a  community  of  minds 
constituted  like  those  of  the  human  race,  who,  in  the 
progress  of  future  ages,  shall  establish  habits  oi per- 
fect selfishness  and  crime  ? 


240  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

In  regard  to  the  Creator,  what  may  we  suppose  will 
be  the  feelings  of  such  minds  ?  If  he  is  a  benevolent, 
pure,  and  perfectly  happy  being,  and  his  power  is  ex- 
erted to  confine  them  from  inflicting  evU  on  the  good, 
he  will  be  the  object  of  unmingled  and  tormenting 
envy,  hatred,  and  spite ;  for  when  a  selfish  mind  be- 
holds a  being  with  characteristics  which  exhibit  its 
own  vileness  in  painful  contrast,  and  using  his  power 
to  oppose  its  desires,  what  might  in  other  circumstances 
give  pleasure  wiR  only  be  cause  of  pain.  If  they  be- 
hold, also,  the  purity  and  happiness  of  that  community 
of  benevolent  beings  from  which  they  will  be  with- 
drawn, the  same  baleful  passions  will  be  awakened  in 
view  of  their  excellence  and  enjoyment. 

There  is  no  suffering  of  the  mind  more  dreaded  and 
avoided  than  that  of  shame.  It  is  probable  a  guilty 
creature  never  writhes  under  keener  burnings  of  spirit 
than  when  aU  his  course  of  meanness,  baseness,  in- 
gratitude, and  guilt  is  unveiled  in  the  presence  of  dig- 
nified virtue,  honor,  and  purity,  and  the  withering 
glance  of  pity,  contempt,  and  abhorrence  is  encoun- 
tered. This  feeling  must  be  experienced,  to  its  full 
extent,  by  every  member  of  such  a  wretched  commu- 
nity. Each  must  feel  himself  an  object  of  loathing 
and  contempt  to  every  pure  and  benevolent  mind,  as 
well  as  to  all  those  who  are  equally  debased. 

Another  cause  of  suffering  is  ungratified  desire.  In 
this  world,  perfect  misery  and  full  happiness  is  seldom 
contrasted.  But  in  such  circumstances,  if  we  suppose 
that  the  happiness  of  blessed  minds  will  be  known,  the 
keenest  pangs  of  ungratified  desire  must  torment. 
Every  mind  wiU  know  what  is  the  pure  deliglit   of 


WEONQ   ACTION   OF   MIND   AND   ITS   EESULTS.    241 

yielded  and  reciprocated  affection,  of  sympathy  in  the 
happiness  of  others,  of  the  sweet  peace  oi  conscious 
rectitude,  and  of  the  delightful  consciousness  of  con- 
ferring bliss  on  others,  while  the  ceaseless  cravings  of 
hopeless  desire  will  agonize  the  spirit. 

Another  cause  of  suffering  is  found  in  the  loss  of 
enjoyment.  In  such  a  degraded  and  selfish  commu- 
nity, all  ties  of  country,  kindred,  friendship,  and  love 
must  cease*  Yet  all  will  know  what  wei^e  the  endear- 
ments of  home,  the  mild  soothings  of  maternal  love, 
the  ties  of  fraternal  sympathy,  and  all  the  trust  and 
tenderness  of  friendship  and  love.  What  vanished 
blessing  of  earth  would  not  rise  up,  with  all  the  sweet- 
ness and  freshness  that  agonizing  memory  can  bring, 
to  aggravate  the  loss  of  all ! 

But  the  mind  is  so  made  that,  however  wicked  it- 
self, guilt  and  selfishness  in  others  is  hated  and  de- 
spised. Such  a  company,  then,  might  be  described  as 
those  who  were  "hateful  and  hating  one  another." 
It  has  been  shown  that  both  suffering  and  selfishness 
awaken  the  desire  to  torment  others.  This,  then,  will 
be  the  detested  purpose  of  every  malignant  mind. 
Every  action  that  could  irritate,  mortify,  and  enrage, 
would  be  deliberately  practiced,  while  disappointed 
hopes,  and  blasted  desires,  and  agonizing  misery  would 
alone  awaken  the  smile  of  horrible  delight.  And  if 
we  suppose  such  minds  in  a  future  state  reclothed  in 
a  body,  with  all  the  present  susceptibilities  of  suffer- 
ing, and  surrounded  by  material  elements  that  may  be 
ministers  of  hate,  what  mind  can  conceive  the  terror 
and  chaos  of  a  world  where  every  one  is  actuated  by  a 
desire  to  torment  ? 

L 


242        THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

Suppose  these  beings  liad  arrived  at  only  such  a  de- 
gree of  selfishness  as  has  been  witnessed  in  this  world ; 
such,  for  example,  as  Genghis  Khan,  who  caused  unof- 
fending prisoners  to  be  pounded  to  death  with  bricks 
in  a  mortar ;  or  Nero,  who  dressed  the  harmless  Chris- 
tians in  flaming  pitch  for  his  amusement ;  or  Antiochus 
Epiphanes  and  j\Iustapha,  who  spent  their  time  in  de- 
vising and  executing  the  most  excruciating  tortures  on 
those  who  could  do  them  no  injury.  What  malignity 
and  baleful  passions  would  actuate  such  minds,  when 
themselves  tormented  by  others  around,  bereft  of  all 
hope,  and  with  nothing  to  interest  them  but  plans  of 
torment  and  revenge !  What  refined  systems  of  cru- 
elty would  be  devised  in  such  a  world !  what  terrific 
combinations  of  the  elements  to  terrify  and  distress ! 
If  such  objeets  as  "the  lake  which  burneth  with  fire 
and  brimstone,  and  the  worm  that  never  dies,"  could  be 
found,  no  Almighty  hand  would  need  to  interfere,  while 
the  "  smoke  of  their  torment"  would  arise  from  flames 
of  theu'  own  kindling. 

To  fearfiil  sufierings  thus  inflicted  would  be  added 
the  pangs  of  agitating  fear  ;  for  where  all  around  were 
plotting  mi&eiy,  what  relief,  by  day  or  by  night,  from 
its  withering  terrors  ?  Then  surely  "  fear  would  come 
upon  them  like  desolation,  and  destruction  as  a  whirl- 
wind." 

Another  cause  of  sufifering  is  inactivity  of  body  and 
mind.  It  has  been  seen  that  the  desire  of  good  is 
what  gives  activity  to  the  intellectual  and  moral  pow- 
ers. In  such  a  world,  no  good  could  be  hoped  or 
sought,  but  the  gi-atification  of  inflicting  ill.  And  even 
a  malignant  mind  must  often  weary  in  this  pursuit,  and 


WEON€^   ACTION   OF  MIND    AND   ITS   RESULTS.    243 

sink  under  all  the  weight  and  misery  of  that  awful 
death  of  the  soul,  when,  in  torpid  inactivity,  it  has 
nothing  to  love,  nothing  to  hope,  nothing  to  desire ! 

Another  cause  of  misery  is  the  consciousness  of 
guilt ;  and  such,  even  in  this  life,  have  been  the  ago- 
nies of  remorse,  that  tearing  the  hair,  bruising  the 
body,  and  even  gnawing  the  flesh  have  been  resorted 
to  as  a  temporary  relief  from  its  pangs.  What,  then, 
would  be  its  agonizing  throes  in  bosoms  that  live  but 
to  torment  and  to  destroy  all  good  to  themselves  and 
to  other  minds  ? 

In  this  life,  where  we  can  allow  the  mind  to  be  en- 
grossed by  other  pursuits,  and  where  we  can  thus  form 
a  habit  of  suppressing  and  avoiding  emotions  of  guilt, 
the  conscience  may  be  seared.  But  it  could  not  be 
thus  when  all  engaging  and  cheerful  pursuits  were 
ended  forever.  Then  the  mind  would  view  its  folly, 
and  shame,  and  guilt  in  all  their  length  and  breadth, 
and  find  no  escape  from  the  soul-harrowing  gaze. 

To  these  miseries  must  be  added  despair — the  loss 
of  all  hope.  Here  hope  comes  to  all ;  but,  in  such  a 
community,  that  fearful  susceptibility  of  the  soul — 
that  terrific  power  of  habit — would  bind  in  chains 
which  would  be  felt  to  be  stronger  than  brass  and 
heavier  than  iron.  If  the  spirit  is  conscious  that  its 
powers  are  immortal,  with  this  consciousness  would 
come  the  despairing  certainty  of  increasing  and  never- 
ending  woe ! 

This  terrifying  and  heart-rending  picture,  it  must  be 
remembered,  is  the  deduction  of  reason,  and  who  can 
point  out  its  fallacy?  Is  not  habit  appalling  in  its 
power,  and  ofttimes,  even  in  this  life,  inveterate  in  its 


244  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE    PEOPLE. 

hold  ?  Are  not  habits  increased  by  perpetual  repeti- 
tion? Is  not  the  mind  of  man  immortal?  Do  not 
the  tendencies  of  this  life  indicate  a  period  whan  a  to- 
tal separation  of  selfish  and  benevolent  minds  will  be 
their  own  voluntaiy  choice  ?  If  all  the  comforts,  gen- 
tle endearments,  and  the  enlivening  hopes  of  this  life ; 
if  aU  the  restraints  of  self-interest,  family,  country,  and 
laws ;  if  in  Christian  lands  the  offers  of  heaven,  and  the 
fearful  predictions  of  eternal  woe ;  if  the  mercy  and  par- 
don, and  all  the  love  and  pity  of  our  Creator  and  Re- 
deemer, neither  by  fear,  nor  by  gratitude,  nor  by  love, 
can  turn  a  selfish  mind,  what  hope  of  its  recovery  when 
it  goes  a  stranger  into  a  world  of  spirits,  to  sojourn  in 
that  society  which,  according  to  its  moral  habits,  it 
must  voluntarily  seek?  And  if  there  exists  a  com- 
munity of  such  selfish  beings,  can  language  portray, 
with  any  adequacy,  the  appalling  results  that  must 
necessarily  ensue  ? 


CHARACTER  OF  THE  CEEATOE.        245 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

CHAEACTER  OP  THE  CREATOR. 

The  preceding  pages  have  exhibited  the  nature  of 
mind,  the  object  of  its  formation,  the  right  mode  of 
action  to  secure  this  object,  and  the  causes  and  results 
of  its  right  and  wrong  action,  as  indicated  by  reason 
and  experience. 

We  are  now  furnished  with  farther  data  to  guide  us 
in  regard  to  the  character  of  our  Creator,  as  we  seek  it 
by  the  light  of  reason  alone. 

We  have  seen,  in  the  chapter  on  intuitive  truths, 
that  by  the  first  of  these  principles  we  arrive  at  the 
knowledge  of  some  eternal  First  Cause  of  all  finite 
things. 

By  another  of  these  principles  we  deduce  certain 
particulars  in  regard  to  his  character  as  exhibited 
through  his  works.  This  principle  is  thus  expressed : 
"  Design  is  evidence  of  an  intelligent  cause,  and  the 
nature  of  a  design  proves  the  character  and  intention 
of  the  author."  We  are  now  prepared  to  show  how 
much  must  be  included  in  this  truth. 

Oar  only  idea  of  "  an  intelligent  cause"  is  that  of  a 
mind  like  our  own.  This  being  so,  we  assume  that 
we  are  instructed,  by  the  very  constitution  of  our  own 
minds,  that  our  Creator  is  a  being  endowed  with  intel- 
lect, susceptibilities,  and  will,  and  a  part  of  these  sus- 
ceptibilities are  those  included  in  our  moral  consti- 
tution. 


246  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE    PEOPLE. 

This  moral  nature,  wliich  we  are  thus  led  to  ascribe 
to  our  Creator,  includes,  in  the  first  place,  the  existence 

of  a  feeling  that  whatever  lessens  or  destroys  happi- 
ness is  unfitted  to  the  system  of  the  universe,  and  that 
voluntary  sacrifice  and  suffering  to  purchase  the  high- 
est jpossihle  happiness  is  fitted  to  or  in  accordance 
with  the  eternal  nature  of  things. 

Next,  we  are  thus  taught  that  in  the  Eternal  Mind 
is  existing  that  sense  of  justice  which  involves  the  de- 
sire of  good  to  the  author  of  good,  and  of  evil  to  the 
author  of  evil,  which  requires  that  such  retributions  be 
proportioned  to  the  good  and  evil  done,  and  to  the 
voluntary  power  of  the  agent. 

Lastly,  we  are  thus  instructed  that  the  Author  of 
all  created  things  possesses  that  susceptibility  called 
conscience^  which  includes,  in  the  very  constitution  of 
mind  itself,  retributions  for  right  and  wrong  actions. 

But  while  we  thus  assume  that  the  mind  of  the 
Creator  is,  so  far  as  we  can  conceive,  precisely  like  our 
own  in  constitutional  organization,  we  are  as  necessa- 
rily led  to  perceive  that  the  extent  of  these  powers  is 
far  beyond  our  own.  A  mind  with  the  power,  wis- 
dom, and  goodness  exhibited  in  the  very  small  portion 
of  his  works  submitted  to  our  inspection,  who  has  in- 
habited eternity,  and  developed  and  matured  through 
everlasting  ages — our  minds  are  lost  in  attempting  any 
conception  of  the  extent  of  such  infinite  faculties ! 

But  we  have  another  intuitive  truth  to  aid  in  our  de- 
ductions. It  is  that  by  which  we  infer  the  continuance 
of  a  uniformity  in  our  experience  ;  that  is,  we  neces- 
sarily believe  that  "things  will  continue  as  they  are  and 
have  been,  unless  there  is  evidence  to  the  contrary." 


CHAEACTER  OF  THE  CREATOE.        247 

Now  all  past  experience  as  to  the  nature  of  mind  has 
been  uniform.  Every  mind  known  to  us  is  endowed 
with  intellect,  susceptibility,  and  will,  like  our  own. 
So  much  is  this  the  case,  that  when  any  of  these  are 
wanting  in  a  human  being,  we  say  he  has  "  lost  his 
mind." 

Again :  all  our  experience  of  mind  involves  the  id^ea 
of  the  mutual  relation  of  minds.  We  perceive  that 
minds  are  made  to  match  to  other  minds,  so  that  there 
can  be  no  complete  action  of  mind,  according  to  its 
manifest  design,  except  in  relation  to  other  beings.  A 
mind  can  not  love  till  there  is  another  mind  to  cali 
fortli  such  emotion.  A  mind  can  not  bring  a  tithe  of 
its  power  into  appropriate  action  except  in  a  commu- 
nity of  minds.  The  conception  of  a  solitary  being, 
with  all  the  social  powers  and  sympathies  of  the  hu- 
man mind  infinitely  enlarged,  and  yet  without  any 
sympathizing  mind  to  match  and  meet  them,  involves 
the  highest  idea  of  unfitness  and  imperfection  conceiv- 
able. 

Thus  it  is  that  past  experience  of  the  nature  of 
mind  leads  to  the  inference  that  no  mind  has  existed 
from  all  eternity  m  solitude,  but  that  there  is  more 
than  one  eternal,  uncreated  mind,  and  that  all  their 
powers  of  enjoyment  from  giving  and  receiving  hap- 
piness in  social  relations  have  been  in  exercise  from 
eternal  ages.  This  is  the  just  and  natural  deduction 
of  reason  and  experience,  as  truly  as  the  deduction 
that  there  is  at  least  one  eternal  First  Cause. 

It  has  been  argued  that  the  iinity  of  design  in  the 
works  of  nature  proves  that  there  is  but  one  creating 
mind.     This  is  not  so,  for  in  all  our  experience  of  the 


248  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

creations  of  finite  beings  no  great  design  was  ever 
formed  without  a  combination  of  minds,  both  to  plan 
and  to  execute.  The  majority  of  minds  in  all  ages, 
both  heathen  and  Christian,  have  always  conceived  of 
the  Creator  as  in  some  icay  existing  so  as  to  involve 
the  ideas  of  plurality  and  of  the  love  and  communion 
of  one  mind  with  another. 

Without  a  revelation,  also,  we  have  the  means  of 
arriving  at  the  conclusion  that  the  Creator  of  all 
things  is  not  only  a  mind  organized  just  like  our  own, 
but  that  he  always  has  and  always  will  feel  and  act 
right.  We  infer  this  from  both  his  social  and  his 
moral  constitution  ;  for  he  must,  as  our  own  minds 
do,  desire  the  love,  reverence,  and  confidence  of  his 
creatures.  The  fact  that  he  has  made  them  to  love 
truth,  justice,  benevolence,  and  self-sacrificing  virtue 
is  evidence  that  he  has  and  will  exhibit  these  and  all 
other  excellences  that  call  forth  affection. 

But  we  have  still  stronger  evidence.  We  have 
seen  all  the  causes  that  experience  has  taught  as  the 
leading  to  the  wrong  action  of  mind.  These  are  nec- 
essarily excluded  from  our  conceptions  of  the  Creator. 
The  Eternal  Mind  can  not  err  for  want  of  knowledge, 
nor  for  want  of  habits  of  right  action,  nor  for  want  of 
teachers  and  educators,  nor  lor  want  of  those  social  in- 
fluences which  generate  and  sustain  a  right  governing 
purpose ;  for  an  infinite  mind,  that  never  had  a  be- 
ginning, can  not  have  these  modes  of  experience  which 
appertain  to  new-born  and  finite  creatures. 

Again :  we  have  seen  that  it  is  one  of  the  implanted 
principles  of  reason  that  "  no  rational  mind  will  choose 
evil  without  hope  of  compensating  good."     Such  is 


CHARACTER  OF  THE  CREATOR.        249 

the  eternal  system  of  the  universe,  as  we  learn  it  by 
the  light  of  reason,  that  the  highest  possible  happiness 
to  each  individual  mind  and  to  the  whole  common- 
wealth is  promoted  by  the  right  action  of  every  mind 
in  that  system.  This,  of  necessity,  is  seen  and  felt 
by  the  All-creating  and  Eternal  i\Iind,  and  to  suppose 
that,  with  this  knowledge,  he  would  ever  choose  wrong 
is  to  suppose  that  he  would  choose  pure  evil,  and  this 
is  contrary  to  an  intuitive  truth.  It  is  to  suppose  the 
Creator  would  do  what  he  has  fonned  our  minds  to 
believe  to  be  impossible  in  any  rational  mind.  It  is 
to  suppose  that  the  Creator  would  do  that  which,  if 
done  by  Iiuman  beings,  marks  them  as  insane. 
L2 


250  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

ON  PERFECT  AND  IMPERFECT  MINDS. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  inquire  in  regard  to  what 
constitutes  a  jperfect  onind.  This  question  relates,  in 
the  first  place,  to  the  perfect  constitutional  organiza- 
tion of  mind,  and,  in  the  next  place,  to  the  perfect  ac- 
tion of  mind. 

In  regard  to  a  finite  mind,  when  we  inquire  as  to 
its  perfection  in  organization,  we  are  necessarily  re- 
stricted to  the  question  of  the  object  or  end  for  which 
it  is  made.  Axij  contrivance  in  mind  or  matter  is 
perfect  when  it  is  so  formed  that,  if  worked  according 
to  its  desigri,  it  completely  fulfills  the  end  for  which  it 
is  made,  so  that  there  is  no  way  in  which  it  could  be 
improved. 

It  is  here  claimed,  then,  that  by  the  light  of  reason 
alone  we  first  gain  the  object  for  which  mind  is  made, 
and  then  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  the  mind  of  man 
is  perfect  in  construction,  because,  if  worked  according 
to  its  design,  it  would  completely  fulfill  the  end  for 
which  it  is  made,  so  that  there  is  no  conceivable  way 
in  which  it  could  be  improved.  This  position  can  not 
be  controverted  except  by  presenting  evidence  that 
some  other  organization  of  the  mind  would  produce,  in 
an  eternal  and  infinite  system,  more  good  with  less  evil 
than  the  present  one. 

In  regard  to  the  Eternal  Mind,  the  only  standard  of 
perfection  in  organization  that  we  can  conceive  of  is 


ON  PEEFECT  AND  IMPERFECT  MINDS.     251 

revealed  in  our  own  mind.  Every  thing  in  our  own 
minds — every  thing  around  us — every  thing  we  have 
known  in  past  experience,  is  designed  to  produce  the 
most  possible  happiness  with  the  least  possible  evil. 
We  can  not  conceive  of  any  being  as  wise,  or  just,  or 
good,  but  as  he  acts  to  promote  that  end. 

A  mind  organized  like  our  own,  with  faculties  infi- 
nitely enlarged,  who  always  has  and  always  will  sus- 
tain a  controlHng  purpose  to  act  right,  is  the  only  idea 
we  can  have  of  an  all-perfect  Creator. 

But  on  the  subject  of  the  perfect  action  of  finite 
minds  it  is  perceived  that  reference  must  always  be 
had  to  voluntary  power  and  its  limitations.  We  have 
shown  that  the  implanted  susceptibility,  called  the 
sense  of  justice^  demands  that  the  rewards  ajid  penal- 
ties for  good  and  evil  have  reference  to  the  hiowledge 
and  power  of  a  voluntary  agent ;  that  is  to  say,  it  is 
contrary  to  our  moral  nature  voluntarily  to  inflict  pen- 
alties for  wrong  action  on  a  being  who  either  has  no 
power  to  know  what  right  is,  or  no  power  to  do  it.  We 
revolt  from  such  inflictions  with  instinctive  abhor- 
rence, as  unfit  and  contrary  to  the  design  of  all  things. 

So,  in  forming  our  judgment  of  the  Creator,  when 
we  regard  him  as  perfectly  just,  the  idea  implies  that 
he  will  never  voluntarily  inflict  evil  for  wrong  action 
on  beings  who  have  not  the  knowledge  or  power  to  act 
right. 

Here  we  are  again  forced  to  the  assumption  of  some 
eternal  nature  of  things  independent  of  the  Creator's 
will,  by  which  ignorant  and  helpless  creatures  are  ex- 
posed to  sufiering  firom  wrong  action  when  they  have 
no  power  of  any  kind  to  act  right. 


252        THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

For  we  see  such  suffering  actually  does  exist,  and 
there  are  but  two  suppositions  possible.  The  one  is, 
that  it  results  from  the  Creator's  voluntary  acts,  and 
the  other,  that  it  is  inherent  in  that  eternal  nature  of 
things  which  the  Creator  can  no  more  alter  than  he  can 
destroy  his  own  necessary  and  eternal  existence. 

In  judging  of  the  perfect  action  of  finite  minds, 
we  are  obliged  to  regard  the  question  in  two  rela- 
tions. In  the  primaiy  relation  we  have  reference  to 
actions  which,  in  all  the  infinite  relations  of  a  vast  and 
eternal  system  of  free  agents,  are  fitted  to  secure  the 
most  possible  good  with  the  least  possible  evil.  In 
this  relation,  so  far  as  we  can  judge  by  experience  and 
reason,  no  finite  being  ever  did  or  ever  can  act  perfect- 
ly from  the  first  to  the  last  of  its  volitions.  In  this 
relation,  every  human  being  is  certainly,  necessarily, 
and  mevitably  imperfect  in  action. 

But  when  the  question  of  perfection  in  action  simply 
has  reference  to  the  knowledge  and  power  of  the  vol- 
untary agent,  we  come  to  another  result.  In  this  re- 
lation, any  mind  acts  perfectly  icJien  it  foiiiis  a  ruling 
purpose  to  feel  and  act  Hght  in  all  things,  when  it 
takes  all  p)0ssible  nuans  of  learning  what  is  right, 
and  luhen  it  actually  carries  out  this  p)^~^i^pose,  so  far 
as  it  has  hioicledge  and  power. 

If  a  human  mind  is,  as  has  been  shown,  perfect  in 
that  organization  of  its  powers  for  which  the  Creator 
is  responsible,  and  then  forms  and  carries  out  such  a 
ruling  purpose,  it  is,  so  far  as  we  can  learn  without 
revelation,  as  perfect  in  action  as  is  possible  in  the  na- 
ture of  things  ;  that  is  to  say,  it  voluntarily  acts  to 
promote  the  greatest  possible  good  with  the  least  pos- 


ON  PEEFECT  AND  IMPERFECT  MINDS.     253 

sible  evil  as  entirely  as  is  possible,  and  as  really  as 
does  the  Creator,  who  himself  is  limited  by  the  nature 
of  things. 

It  is  as  impossible  for  a  Unite  mind  to  act  right, 
when  it  does  not  know  what  right  is,  as  it  is  for  the 
Eternal  Mind  to  make  and  sustain  a  system  in  which 
there  has  been  and  never  will  be  any  wrong  action  to 
cause  pain  to  himself  and  to  other  minds. 

What,  then,  so  far  as  we  can  learn  without  a  revela- 
tion, is  a  perfect  mind  in  such  a  system  of  things  as 
we  find  in  this  world  ?  It  is  a  mind  constituted  like 
our  own,  which  has  formed  a  ruling  pui*pose  to  feel  and 
act  right  in  all  things,  which  takes  all  possible  means 
in  its  reach  to  learn  what  is  right,  and  which  actually 
carries  out  this  purpose  to  the  extent  of  its  power. 

In  shorter  terms,  in  this  relation  every  human  mind 
is  perfect,  both  in  constitution  and  in  action,  so  long 
as  it  acts  as  near  right  as  is  in  its  present  power.  At 
the  same  time,  in  relation  to  the  infinite  and  eternal 
standard  of  rectitude,  its  action  may  be  very  imperfect. 

We  next  inquire  as  to  the  evidence  of  a  perfect 
mind  in  this  secondary  relation ;  that  is  to  say,  how 
can  we  know  wlien  a  mind  does  reach  the  full  measure 
of  its  power  in  voluntary  right  action  ? 

In  regard  to  this  we  have  two  sources  of  evidence : 
first,  the  mental  consciousness  of  the  acting  mind  it- 
self, and,  next,  the  results  of  its  action.  In  regard  to 
the  first,  every  mind,  in  reference  either  to  its  mental 
states  or  external  deeds,  can  have  as  much  certainty 
as  to  the  extent  of  its  power  as  it  can  of  any  thing. 
If  we  choose  to  feel  in  a  given  way,  or  to  perform  a 
given  act,  and  what  we  choose  does  not  foUow,  we 


254  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

are  certain  we  have  no  power  to  do  the  thing.  All 
the  idea  oi power  we  have  is  that  volition  is  followed 
by  the  result  chosen.  All  the  idea  we  have  of  VM7it 
of  2)ower  is  that  the  result  chosen  does  not  follow  the 
volition. 

Every  mind,  then,  in  regard  to  ever^y  sj^ecific  volition^ 
has  the  most  perfect  of  all  evidence  as  to  the  extent  of 
its  powers  in  its  own  experience. 

But  the  question  is  a  more  difficult  one  in  reference 
to  a  generic  governing  volition.  A  perfectly  acting 
mind,  according  to  our  definition,  is  one  that  has 
formed  a  generic  governing  volition  to  feel  and  act 
right  in  all  respects ;  that  is,  it  decides  that  the 
chief  end  of  existence  shall  he  to  promote  the  greatest 
possible  happiness  with  the  least  possible  evil,  in  obe- 
dience to  all,  physical,  social,  and  moral  laws  of  the 
Creator,  so  far  as  it  is  within  the  reach  of  its  powers. 

Now,  as  to  this  simple  act  of  choice,  a  mind  can  have 
the  highest  possible  evidence  in  its  own  consciousness. 
The  only  question  of  difficulty  would  be  as  to  the  ex- 
tent of  its  powers  to  caiTy  out  this  decision,  and  the 
con-espondence  of  all  its  subordinate  volitions  with 
this  generic  purpose. 

To  ascertain  the  truth  on  this  point,  let  us  suppose 
a  mind  that  has  the  highest  evidence  (that  of  internal 
consciousness)  that  it  has  formed  such  a  purpose. 
Then  comes  a  case  where  a  subordinate  decision  is  to  be 
made — say  it  relates  to  the  existence  of  a  certain  feel- 
ing  or  emotion,  such  as  love,  fear,  gratitude,  or  sorrow. 
It  has  been  shown  that  these  emotions  are  not  to  be 
evoked  into  existence  by  a  simple  act  of  will.  The 
mode  by  which  the  mind  controls  its  own  desires  and 


ON  PERFECT  AND  IMPERFECT  MINDS.     255 

emotions  is  set  forth  on  page  162.  If,  then,  the  per- 
son chooses  to  do  all  that  is  in  its  power  at  the  given 
tijne  to  awaken  these  emotions,  its  action  is  ;perfect  in 
this  respect :  it  has  fulfilled  the  measure  of  its  power. 
It  reaches  the  limit  of  its  power  when  it  can  find 
nothing  more  that  an  act  of  choice  will  secure  that  it 
perceives  will  tend  to  accomplish  the  end  chosen. 
That  is  to  say,  at  each  given  moment,  when  a  mind  is 
aiming  to  know  what  is  right,  and  to  do  it,  if  it  has 
done  all  it  perceives  can  be  done  by  any  act  of  will  to- 
ward this  end,  then  its  decision  or  mental  action  is 
^perfect ;  it  is  as  good  as  is  possible  in  the  nature  of 
things. 

We  have  the  same  method  of  testing  our  power  in 
regard  to  the  prevention  of  desires  and  emotions.  No 
matter  how  painful  or  inappropriate  may  be  the  desires 
and  emotions  of  any  mind,  it  is  acting  jjerfectly  when 
it  goes  to  the  full  extent  of  its  power  to  extinguish  or  to 
control  them  according  to  the  rules  of  rectitude.  If  it 
wills  to  have  them  otherwise,  and  uses  the  appropriate 
modes  to  have  them  so,  this  is  all  it  has  power  to  do. 

In  reference  to  external  actions^  there  are  an  infinite 
variety  of  circumstances  that  must  decide  the  charac- 
ter of  actions  as  right  or  wrong.  An  action  which  is 
wise  and  benevolent  in  one  set  of  circumstances  be- 
comes foolish  and  selfish  in  another  combination. 
More  than  half  the  questions  of  right  and  wrong  action 
are  to  be  decided  as  to  their  character  by  the  surround- 
ing circumstances,  while  no  mind  but  the  one  that  is 
infinite  and  omniscient  can  pronounce  with  certainty 
on  actions  whose  character  is  dependent  on  circum- 
stances and  probable  future  results. 


256        THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

What,  then,  is  the  limitation  of  power  in  these  cases? 
How  can  we  know  when  we  act  as  nearly  right  as  it 
is  in  our  power  ? 

In  the  first  place,  we  can  have  the  high  evidence  of 
consciousness  that  our  chief  end  in  life  is  to  act  right 
in  all  things.  In  the  next  place,  we  can  know  cer- 
tainly whether  there  is  any  thing  more  that  we  can  do 
to  find  out  what  the  right  course  is.  When  we  have 
decided  that  we  have  done  all  we  can  in  the  given 
circumstances,  and  then  are  conscious  that  we  choose 
what  we  believe  to  he  rights  or  that  ivhich  has  to  our 
Tnindthe  balance  of  evidence  in  its  favor  as  rights  we 
act  jperfectly  ;  that  is  to  say,  we  have  reached  the  full 
measure  of  our  power  in  voluntarily  acting  right. 

But,  besides  this  evidence,  that  rests  mainly  on  in- 
ternal consciousness  of  the  nature  of  our  volitions,  we 
have  other  evidence  to  guide  us.  It  has  been  shown 
in  the  previous  pages  how  our  thoughts,  and  desires, 
and  emotions  are  all  dependent  on  the  generic  purposes 
of  the  mind.  Whatever  is  the  chief  end  of  life  is  the 
object  which  excites  the  strongest  interest  and  calls 
forth  the  deepest  emotions.  Therefore,  when  a  mind 
has  chosen  to  act  right  as  the  chief  end,  all  its  tastes, 
desires,  and  emotions  become  conformed  to  this  pur- 
pose. Whatever  is  seen  as  tending  to  promote  this 
end  is  more  desired  and  valued  than  any  thing  else. 
Wliatever  is  seen  to  interfere  with  this  is  regarded 
with  dissatisfaction. 

This  being  so,  a  mind  that  is  controlled  by  a  ruling 
purpose  to  act  right  finds  those  persons  and  places  the 
most  congenial  and  agreeable  who  can  lend  the  most 
aid  in  pointing  out  all  that  is  wrong  in  thought,  word, 


ON  PERFECT  AND  IMPERFECT  MINDS.     257 

or  deed,  and  in  helping,  by  instruction,  sympathy,  and 
example,  to  do  right.  One  great  test,  then,  of  the  ex- 
istence and  strength  of  such  a  ruling  purpose  is  the 
manner  in  which  those  are  regarded  who  are  most  in- 
terested in  finding  out  and  doing  what  is  right  them- 
selves, and  in  aiding  others  to  do  so. 

To  be  "  meek  and  lowly  in  heart,"  so  as  to  seek  help 
in  learning  what  is  right  from  every  source,  however 
humble  or  however  imperfectly  offered,  is  the  surest 
indication  that  a  mind  is  under  the  entire  control  of  a 
ruling  purpose  to  do  right,  and  is  thus  a  jperfect  mind. 

Such  a  mind,  it  must  be  seen,  has  tendencies  that 
fit  it  to  that  great  system  of  things  in  which  we  find 
ourselves.  Such  a  mind  can  not  trace  out  these  tend- 
encies by  the  light  of  reason  alone  without  a  convic- 
tion tliat  somewhere  in  the  progress  of  ages  it  will  at- 
tain to  a  j)<^Kf*^c^  C07nm07iivecdth,  where  the  great  end 
and  object  of  the  Creator  in  forming  mind  will  be  car- 
ried to  entire  perfection  in  each  individual  mind  and  in 
the  all-perfect  whole  I 


258  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 


CHAPTEH  XXX. 

ON   THE   PROBABLE   EXISTENCE   AND   CHAEACTER   OF 
DISEMBODIED   SPIRITS. 

We  have  considered  the  mode  by  which,  without 
revelation,  we  arrive  at  a  knowledge  of  the  existence 
and  character  of  one  eternal,  self-existent  Creator,  and 
of  other  eternal  beings  endowed  with  all  the  attributes 
of  the  human  mind. 

We  will  next  inquire  as  to  the  existence  of  other 
created  minds  in  addition  to  those  whose  existence  is 
manifested  by  a  material  body.  There  are  several 
principles  of  reason  to  aid  us  in  this  inquiry.  The 
first  is  that  which  establishes  the  existence  of  mind 
and  matter  as  two  distinct  and  diverse  causes  or  exist- 
ences. By  this  we  decide  that  every  human  being  has 
a  body  and  a  soul. 

The  second  principle  of  reason  to  guide  us  is  that 
which  teaches  us  to  believe  that  things  continue  to 
exist  as  they  are  and  have  been,  unless  there  is  some 
known  cause  to  destroy  or  change  them. 

The  other  principles  to  guide  us  are,  that  nothing  is 
to  be  assumed  to  be  true  unless  there  is  some  evidence 
that  it  is  so,  and,  in  case  of  conflicting  evidence,  the 
halance  of  evidence  is  to  decide  what  is  right  and  true. 

These  principles  being  assumed,  we  find  that  at  the 
death  of  every  human  being  we  have  evidence,  first, 
that  the  body  ceases  to  be  connected  with  the  spirit, 
and  is  dissolved. 


EXISTENCE,  ETC.,  OF  DISEftlBODIED  SPIEITS.       259 

Next,  we  have  evidence  at  the  period  of  this  dis- 
solving of  soul  and  body  that  the  soul  exists  without 
a  body,  and  no  evidence  that  it  is  changed  in  any  of 
its  powers,  or  habits,  or  character. 

Thus  we  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  the  spirits 
that  have  existed  in  this  life  connected  with  bodies  are 
still  existing  with  all  the  powers,  habits,  and  character 
which  they  possessed  in  this  life,  except  as  they  are 
modified  by  causes  and  tendencies  that  experience  in 
this  life  has  disclosed.  We  thus  infer  that  all  minds 
who  have  left  this  world  have  continued  in  the  upward 
or  downward  tendencies  of  character  which  existed 
when  they  were  disconnected  with  the  body. 

This  is  all  the  knowledge  we  can  gain  by  reason  and 
experience  alone  in  reference  to  other  created  beings, 
and  their  character  and  mode  of  existence. 

As  to  the  time  when  the  soul  co'imnences  existence^ 
we  have  no  evidence  of  such  existence  except  what  is 
manifested  in  the  body.  We  can  only  infer,  then,  that 
the  soul  begins  to  exist  when  the  evidence  of  its  exist- 
ence commences  in  the  body.  To  assert  that  it  begins 
before  that  time  is  to  violate  the  principle  of  reason 
which  forbids  us  to  assume  any  thing  to  be  true  un- 
less there  is  evidence  of  it. 

Thus,  without  a  revelation,  we  are  led  to  a  belief  in 
the  existence  of  two  classes  of  disembodied  spirits,  the 
good  and  the  bad.  But  we  have  no  evidence  of  the 
existence  of  any  other  created  minds  except  those  that 
have  formerly  been  connected  with  bodies  in  this  world. 

So  far  as  animals  give  evidence  of  possessing  an  in- 
dependent spiritual  existence,  the  same  argument  that 
proves  the  continued  existence  of  the  human  mind  aft- 


260  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

er  death,  proves  that  the  animal  spirit,  if  there  be  one, 
continues  after  the  dissolution  of  the  body. 

But  we  can  not  reason  in  regard  to  animals  as  we 
can  in  regard  to  human  minds,  for  we  never  had  the 
experience  of  animal  existence  to  commence  with,  as 
we  have  our  own  experience  in  reasoning  as  to  the 
nature  and  experience  of  mind  in  reference  to  other 
beings  of  the  same  race. 


PEOBABILITIES   AS   TO   A   EEYELATION,  ETC.       261 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

PROBABILITIES   IN  EEGAED  TO  A  EEVELATION  FEOM 
THE   CEEATOE. 

We  have  now  completed  our  investigations  as  to 
the  nature  and  amount  of  knowledge  to  be  gained  on 
the  great  questions  of  life  hy  reason  and  experience 
independently  of  a  revelation. 

We  have  assumed  that  the  great  cause  of  the  dis- 
ordered action  of  mind  is  that  it  commences  action  in 
perfect  ignorance,  while  all  those  causes  which  experi- 
ence shows  to  he  indispensable  to  its  right  action,  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  are  wanting. 

The  great  want  of  our  race  is  ^perfect  educators  to 
train  new-born  minds,  who  are  infallible  teachers  of 
what  is  right  and  true. 

We  have  presented  the  evidence  gained  by  reason 
and  experience  that  the  Creator  is  perfect  in  mental 
constitution,  and  that  he  always  has  acted  right,  and 
always  will  thus  act.  This  being  granted,  we  infer 
that  he  always  has  done  the  best  that  is  possible  for 
the  highest  good  of  his  creatures  in  this  world,  and 
that  he  always  will  continue  to  do  so. 

We  proceed  to  inquire  in  regard  to  what  would  be 
the  best  that  it  is  possible  to  do  for  us  in  this  state  of 
being,  so  far  as  we  can  conceive. 

Inasmuch  as  the  great  cause  of  the  wrong  action  of 
mind  is  the  ignorance  and  imperfection  of  those  who 
are  its  educators  in  the  beginning  of  its  existence,  we 


262       THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

should  infer  that  the  best  possible  thing  to  be  done 
for  our  race  would  be  to  provide  some  j^^i^fod  and  in- 
fallible teacher  to  instruct  those  who  are  to  educate 
mind.  This  being  granted,  then  all  would  concede 
that  the  Creator  himself  would  be  ©ur  best  teacher, 
and  that,  if  he  would  come  to  us  himself  in  a  visible 
form  to  instruct  the  educators  of  mind  in  all  they  need 
to  know  for  themselves  and  for  the  new-born  minds 
committed  to  their  care,  it  would  be  the  best  thing  we 
can  conceive  of  for  the  highest  good  of  our  race. 

We  next  inquire  as  to  the  best  conceivable  mode 
by  which  the  Creator  can  manifest  himself  so  as  to  se- 
cure credence. 

To  decide  this,  let  each  one  suppose  the  case  his 
own.  Let  a  man  make  his  appearance  claiming  to  be 
the  Creator.  We  can  perceive  that  his  mere  word 
would  never  command  the  confidence  of  intelligent 
practical  men.  Thousands  of  impostors  have  appear- 
ed and  made  such  claims,  deceiving  the  weak  and  ig- 
norant and  disgusting  the  wise. 

In  case  the  person  with  such  claims  proved  to  be 
ever  so  benevolent  and  intelligent,  if  we  had  no  other 
evidence  than  his  word,  it  would,  by  sensible  persons, 
be  regarded  as  the  result  of  some  mental  hallucination. 

But  suppose  that  a  person  making  claims  to  be  the 
Creator  of  all  things,  or  to  be  a  messenger  from  him, 
should  attest  his  claim  by  shaking  the  earth,  or  tear- 
ing up  a  mountain,  or  turning  back  the  floods  of  the 
ocean,  it  would  be  impossible  for  any  man  to  wit- 
ness these  miracles  without  believing  that  tlie  Author 
of  all  things  thus  attested  his  own  presence  or  the 
authority  of  his  messenger.     We  have  shown  that,  in 


PROBABILITIES   AS   TO   A  REVELATION,  ETC.     263 

the  very  organization  of  mind,  one  of  the  intuitive 
truths  would  necessarily  force  such  a  belief  on  all  sane 
minds. 

One  other  method  would  be  as  effective.  Should 
this  person  predict  events  so  improbable  and  so  be- 
yond all  human  intelligence  as  to  be  equivalent  to  an 
equal  interruption  of  experience  as  to  the  laws  of  mind, 
as  time  developed  the  fulfillment  of  these  predictions, 
the  same  belief  would  be  induced  in  the  authority  of 
the  person  thus  supernaturally  endowed. 

In  the  first  case,  the  evidence  would  be  immediate 
and  most  powerful  in  its  inception.  In  the  latter 
case,  the  power  of  the  evidence  would  increase  with 
time. 

Miracles  and  jpro^hecy^  then,  are  the  only  methods 
that  we  can  conceive  of  that  would,  as  our  minds  are 
now  constituted,  insure  belief  in  revelations  from  the 
Creator. 

But  if  every  human  being,  in  order  to  believe,  must 
have  miracles,  there  would  result  such  an  incessant 
violation  of  the  laws  of  nature  as  to  destroy  them,  and 
thus  to  destroy  all  possibility  of  miracles. 

The  only  possible  way,  then,  is  to  have  miracles  oc- 
cur at  certain  periods  of  time,  and  then  have  them  ade- 
quately recorded  and  preserved. 

This  method  involves  the  necessity  of  interpreting 
written  documents.  If,  then,  the  Creator  has  provided 
such  revelations,  the  question  occurs  as  to  how  far 
they  may  be  accessible  to  all  men.  Are  there  revela- 
tions from  the  Creator  in  such  a  form  that  all  men  can 
gain  access  to  them  and  interpret  them  for  themselves, 
or  are  they  so  recorded  that  only  a  few  can  gain  the 


264       THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

knowledge  they  impart,  while  the  many  are  helplessly 
dependent  on  the  few  ? 

It  is  with  reference  to  this  question  that  the  inter- 
pretation of  language  becomes  a  subject  of  vital  and 
infinite  interest  to  every  human  being.  This  subject 
will  therefore  occupy  the  remaining  portion  of  this 
volume. 


INTERPEETATION    OF    LANGUAGE.  265 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

INTERPEETATION   OF   LANGUAGE. 

The  mind  of  man  is  confined  in  its  operations  by 
the  material  system  it  inhabits,  and  has  no  modes  of 
communicating  with  other  minds  except  through  the 
medium  of  the  eye  and  ear.  It  is  by  signs  addressed 
to  the  eye  and  by  sounds  affecting  the  ear  that  ideas 
are  communicated  and  received. 

It  is  by  the  power  of  association^  which  enables  us 
to  recall  certain  ideas  together  which  have  been  fre- 
quently united,  that  the  use  of  language  is  gained. 
The  infant  finds  certain  states  of  mind  produced  by 
material  objects  invariably  connected  with  certain 
sounds.  This  is  done  so  often  that  whenever  a  cer- 
tain perception  occurs,  the  sound  recurs  which  has 
been  so  often  united  with  it. 

If  language  is  correctly  defined  as  "any  sound  or 
sign  which  conveys  the  ideas  of  one  mind  to  another," 
it  is  probable  that  children  leani  language  at  a  much 
earlier  period  than  is  generally  imagined.  It  is  im- 
possible to  know  how  soon  the  infant  notices  the  soft 
tones  of  its  own  voice  when  happy,  or  the  moaning  or 
shrill  sound  that  expresses  its  own  pain,  and  by  com- 
paring them  with  those  of  its  mother,  learns,  through 
its  little  process  of  reasoning,  that  another  spirit  has 
emotions  of  pleasure  and  pain  corresponding  with  its 
own.     jSTor  can  we  determine  how  soon  these  pleasant 

M 


266  THE   BIBLE   AND  THE   PEOPLE. 

sounds  of  the  mother's  voice  begin  to  be  associated 
with  the  benignant  smile,  or  the  tones  of  grief  with  the 
sorrowful  expression,  or  the  tones  of  anger  -with  the 
frowning  brow. 

It  seems  very  rational  to  suppose  that  sound,  to  the 
infant  mind,  is  what  first  leads  to  the  belief  of  the 
emotions  of  another  mind,  by  means  of  a  comparison 
of  its  own  sounds  with  those  originating  from  another. 
After  this  is  done,  the  eye  comes  in  for  a  share  in  these 
offices.  The  little  reasoner,  after  thousands  of  exper- 
iments, finds  the  pleasant  sound  always  united  with 
the  smiling  face,  until  the  object  of  vision  becomes  the 
sign  for  recalling  the  idea  at  first  obtained  by  sound. 
In  gaining  the  common  use  of  language,  we  know  this 
is  the  order  of  succession.  We  first  learn  the  sounds 
that  recall  ideas,  and  then,  by  means  of  a  frequent  un- 
ion of  these  sounds  with  some  visible  sign,  the  power 
once  possessed  simply  by  the  sound  is  conveyed  to 
the  sign.  Thus  we  have  words  that  are  sounds  and 
words  that  are  visible  signs. 

The  communion  of  one  spirit  with  that  of  others  in 
every-day  life  is  maintained  ordinarily  through  the 
medium  of  sounds  ;  but  when  distance  intervenes,  or 
when  some  record  is  to  be  preserved  of  the  thoughts 
and  feelings  of  other  beings,  then  signs  addressed  to 
the  eye  are  employed.  In  civilized  nations,  the  signs 
used  are  a  certain  number  of  arbitrary  marks,  which 
are  arranged  in  a  great  variety  of  combinations,  and 
each  combination  is  employed  to  recall  some  partic- 
ular idea  or  combination  of  ideas.  These  arbitrary 
signs  are  called  letters,  and  in  the  English  language 
there  are  onjy  twenty-six ;  yet,  by  the  almost  infinite 


INTERPRET ATION  OF  LANGUAGE.       267 

variety  of  combination  of  which  these  are  capable,  ev- 
ery idea  which  one  mind  wishes  to  communicate  to 
another  can  be  expressed. 

A  loritten  word  is  a  single  letter  or  a  combination 
of  letters  used  as  a  sign  to  recall  one  or  more  ideas. 
It  is  considered  by  the  mind  as  a  unit  or  whole  thing, 
of  which  the  letters  are  considered  as  parts,  and  is 
shown  to  be  a  unit  by  intervals  or  blank  spaces  that 
separate  it  from  the  other  words  of  a  sentence.  The 
fact  that  it  is  considered  by  the  mind  as  a  unit,  or  a 
sign  separate  from  all  other  combinations  of  letters,  is 
the  peculiarity  which  constitutes  it  a  xvord.  A  sylla- 
ble is  a  combination  of  letters  which  is  not  considered 
as  a  unit,  but  is  considered  as  a  j)a7't  of  a  word. 

Words  are  used  to  recall  the  ideas  of  things,  qual- 
ities, changes,  and  circumstances.  Some  words  recall 
the  idea  of  a  thing  without  any  other  idea  connected 
with  it ;  such  are  the  words  mind,  ivory.  Some 
words  recall  the  idea  of  quality  simply,  such  as  red, 
hard,  sweet  Some  words  recall  the  ideas  of  change 
merely,  such  as  motion,  action.  Some  words  recall 
simply  the  idea  of  relation  or  circumstance,  such  as 
on,  under,  about.  Sometimes  ideas  of  things,  and 
their  actions  and  relations,  are  recalled  by  the  same 
sign ;  thus  vjrestler  recalls  the  idea  of  a  thing  and  its 
action,  and  giant  of  a  thing  and  its  relation.  Some 
words  recall  a  variety  of  ideas ;  thus  the  term  begone 
recalls  the  idea  of  two  things,  of  the  desire  of  a  mind 
and  of  its  mode  of  expression. 

In  the  process  of  learaing  language,  mankind  first 
acquire  names  for  the  several  things,  qualities,  changes, 
and  circumstances  that  they  notice,  and  afterward  learn 


268  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE    PEOPLE. 

the  process  of  coinhinmg  these  names,  so  as  to  convey 
the  mental  combination  of  one  mind  to  another.  A 
person  might  have  names  for  all  his  ideas,  and  yet,  if 
he  had  never  learned  the  art  of  properly  combining 
these  signs,  he  never  could  communicate  the  varied 
conceptions  of  his  own  mind  to  another  person.  Sup- 
pose, for  illustration,  that  a  child  had  learned  the  mean- 
ing of  the  terms  cup^  spooii,  the,  j^^^i  ^^to,  little,  my  ; 
it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  express  his  wish  till 
hie  had  learned  the  proper  arrangement  of  each  term, 
and  then  he  could  convey  the  conception  and  wishes  of 
his  own  mind,  viz.,  "Put  the  spoon  into  my  little  cup." 

We  see,  then,  how  the  new  combinations  of  ideas  in 
one  mind  can  be  conveyed  to  another.  The  two  per- 
sons must  both  have  the  same  ideas  attached  to  the 
same  sign  of  language,  and  must  each  understand  the 
Tnode  of  combination  to  be  employed.  When  tliis  is 
done,  if  one  person  sees  a  new  object,  he  can  send  to 
his  friend  the  signs  which  represent  all  its  qualities, 
circumstances,  and  changes  arranged  in  a  proper  man- 
ner. The  absent  person  will  then  arrange  the  concej^ 
tions  recalled  by  these  words,  so  as  to  correspond  with 
those  of  his  con-espondent. 

In  all  languages,  the  same  word  often  is  used  to  re- 
call different  ideas,  and  the  meaning  of  words  depends 
often  on  their  Tnode  of  combination. 

The  art  of  interpreting  consists  in  ascertaining  the 
particular  ideas  conveyed  by  words  hi  a  given  combi- 
nation. 

There  are  two  modes  of  using  language  which  need 
to  be  distinctly  pointed  0Mt,\iz.,  literal  2i.\\^  figurative. 

In  order  to  understand  these  modes,  it  is  necessary 


INTEKPEETATION   OF   LANGUAGE.  269 

to  refer  to  the  principles  ot  association.  Neither  our 
perceptions  or  conceptions  are  ever  single,  disconnected 
objects  except  vrhen  the  power  of  abstraction  is  em- 
ployed. Ordinarily,  various  objects  are  united  togeth- 
er in  the  mind,  and  those  objects  which  are  most  fre- 
quently united  in  our  perceptions,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
are  those  which  are  most  frequently  united  in  our  con- 
ceptions. 

Now,  by  the  power  of  abstraction^  the  mind  can  re- 
gard the  same  object  sometimes  as  a  unit  or  whole, 
and  sometimes  can  disconnect  it,  and  consider  it  as 
several  distinct  things.  Thus  it  happens  that  ideas 
whicii  are  connected  by  the  principles  of  association 
are  sometimes  regarded  as  a  whole,  and  sometimes  are 
disconnected,  and  considered  as  separate  existences. 

Language  will  be  found  to  be  constnicted  in  exact 
conformity  to  this  phenomenon  of  mind.  We  shall 
find  that  objects  ordinarily  united  together,  as  cause 
and  effect,  have  the  same  name  given,  sometimes  to  the 
causCj  sometimes  to  the  effects,  and  sometimes  it  em- 
braces the  tc/iole  ;  or  the  thing,  its  causes  and  its  ef- 
fects. As  an  example  of  this  use  of  language  may 
be  mentioned  the  term  jpi^de.  We  sometimes  hear 
those  objects  which  are  the  cause  of  pride  receiving 
that  name.  Thus  a  child  is  called  the  pride  of  its 
parents.  The  same  name  is  applied  simply  to  the 
state  of  'inind,  as  when  a  man  is  said  to  be  under  the 
influence  of  pride,  while  the  effects  of  pride  receive 
the  same  appellation  when  we  hear  a  haughty  de- 
meanor and  consequential  deportment  called  pride. 
The  term  is  used  in  its  most  extended  signification  as 
including  the  thing,  its  causes,  and  its  effects,  w^hen  we 


270        THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

hear  of  the  "pride  of  this  worid,"  which  is  soon  to  pass 
away,  signifying  equally  the  causes  of  this  feeling,  the 
feeling  itself,  and  the  effects  of  it. 

Literal  language  is  that  in  which  all  words  have 
the  ordinary  meaning  as  commonly  used. 

Figxirative  language  is  that  in  which  the  ordinary 
names,  qualities,  and  actions  of  things  are  ascribed  to 
other  things  with  which  they  have  been  associated. 

As  an  example  of  the  use  of  language  which  i^figw- 
rative^  we  find  tears,  that  are  the  effects  of  grief,  called 
by  the  name  of  the  cause  ;  thus  : 

"  Streaming  grief  his  faded  cheek  bedewed." 

On  the  contrary,  we  find  the  cause  called  by  the  name 
of  the  efiects  in  this  sentence : 

"  And  hoari^  hairs  received  the  reverence  due." 

Here  age  is  called  by  the  name  of  one  of  its  effects. 

The  indiscriminate  application  of  names  to  things 
which  have  been  connected  by  ti?7ie,  2^l<^ce,  or  reserru- 
hlance,  abounds  in  figurative  language.  The  follow- 
ing is  an  example  where  one  object  is  called  by  the 
name  of  another  with  which  it  has  been  connected  by 
jplace  : 

"The  groves  give  forth  their  songs." 

Here  birds  are  called  by  the  name  of  the  groves  with 
which  they  have  been  so  often  united  as  it  respects 
place.  The  following  is  an  example  where  an  object 
is  called  by  the  name  of  another  with  which  it  is  con- 
nected by  time  : 

**  And  night  weighed  down  his  hea%y  eyes." 


INTERPRETATION   OF   LANGUAGE.  271 

Here  sleejp  is  called  bj  the  name  of  nighty  with  which 
it  has  been  so  often  united.  The  following  is  an  ex- 
ample where  one  object  is  called  by  the  name  of  anoth- 
er with  which  it  has  been  connected  by  the  principle 
of  resemblance  : 

"  You  took  her  up,  a  little,  tender  bud, 
Just  sprouted  on  a  bank." 

Here  a  young  female  is  called  by  the  name  of  an  ob- 
ject with  which  she  is  connected  by  the  association  of 
resemblance.  When  one  object  is  thus  called  by  the 
name  of  another  which  it  resembles,  the  figure  of  speech 
is  called  a  metaphor. 

When  dominion  is  called  a  sceptre  ;  the  office  of  a 
bishop,  the  lawn  ;  the  profession  of  Christianity,  the 
cross  ;  a  dwelling  is  called  a  roof ;  and  various  ex- 
pressions of  this  kind,  one  thing  is  called  by  the  name 
of  another  of  which  it  is  a  part^  or  with  which  it  has 
been  connected  as  a  circumstance,  cause,  or  effect. 

Not  only  do  objects  which  have  been  united  in  our 
perceptions  receive  each  other's  names,  but  the  quali- 
ties of  one  are  often  ascribed  to  the  other.  The  follow- 
ing are  examples  in  which  the  qualities  of  the  cause 
are  ascribed  to  the  effect,  and  the  qualities  of  the  effect 
are  ascribed  to  the  cause : 

"An  impious  mortal  gave  a  daring  wound." 

Here  the  quality  of  the  cause  is  ascribed  to  the  effect. 

"The  merry  pipe  is  heard." 

Here  the  quality  of  the  effect  is  ascribed  to  the  cause. 
The  following  is  an  example  where  the  quality  of  one 
thing  is  ascribed  to  another  connected  with  it  by  time  : 


2i'2  IHE    BIBLE    AND   THE    PEOPLE. 

"Now  musing  midnight  hallows  all  the  scene." 

The  following  is  an  example  of  the  quality  of  one  thing 

ascribed  to  another,  connected  with  it  hj  2)l(ice  : 

"  when  sapless  age 
Shall  bring  thy  father  to  his  drooping  chair." 

We  have  examples  of  the  qualities  of  one  thing  as- 
cribed to  another  which  it  reserahles  in  such  expres- 
sions as  these — "  imperious  ocean,"  "  tottering  state," 
"raging  tempest."  The  following  is  an  example  of  a 
thing  called  by  the  name  of  one  of  its  qualities  or  at- 
tending circumstances : 

"What  art  thoii,  that  usurpest  this  time  of  night, 
Together  Avith  the  fair  and  warlike  form 
In  Avhich  the  majesty  of  buried  Denmark 
Did  sometimes  vv-alk?" 

Here  a  king  is  called  by  the  name  of  a  quality  and  by 
the  name  of  his  kingdom. 

It  is  owing  to  the  principle  of  association  that  an- 
other mode  of  figurative  language  is  employed  called 
jjersonification.  This  consists  in  speaking  of  a  qual- 
ity which  belongs  to  living  beings  as  if  it  were  the 
being  in  which  such  a  quality  was  found.  This  is 
owing  to  the  fact  that  the  conceptions  of  qualities  of 
mind  are  always  united  with  some  being,  and  there- 
fore such  ideas  are  connected  ones.  Thus  it  is  said  in 
the  sacred  writings, 

"Mercy  and  truth  are  met  together." 

"Righteousness  and  peace  have  embraced  each  other." 

"  Wisdom  crieth  aloud,  she  uttereth  her  voice." 

Another  mode  of  personification  is  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  actions  and  relations  of  inanimate  existences 
very  often  resemble  those   of  living  beings,  so  that 


INTERPRETATION   OF   LANGUAGE.  273 

such  ideas  are  associated  by  the  principle  of  resem- 
blance. In  such  cases,  the  actions,  properties,  and  re- 
lations of  living  beings  are  ascribed  to  inanimate  ob- 
jects. Thus,  when  the  sea  roars  and  lifts  its  waves 
toward  the  skies,  the  actions  are  similar  to  those  of  a 
man  when  he  raises  his  arm  in  supplication.  An  ex- 
ample of  this  kind  of  figurative  language  is  found  in 
this  sublime  personification  of  Scripture:  "The  mount- 
ains saw  thee,  and  trembled ;  the  overflowing  of  the 
waters  passed  by  ;  the  deep  uttereth  his  voice,  and 
lifted  up  his  hands  on  high ;  the  sun  and  moon  stood 
still  in  their  habitations."  Other  examples  of  this 
kind  are  found  when  we  hear  it  said  that  "  the  fields 
smile,"  "the  woods  clap  their  liands,"  "the  skies 
frown,"  and  the  like. 

One  cause  of  figurative  language  is  found  in  the 
similarity  of  efiects  produced  on  the  body  by  opera- 
tions of  mind  and  operations  of  matter.  Whatever 
causes  afiect  the  mind  in  a  similar  manner  are  called 
by  the  same  name.  Thus,  when  a  man  endeavors  to 
penetrate  a  hard  substance,  the  muscles  of  his  head 
and  neck  are  afiected  in  a  particular  manner.  The 
same  muscles  are  afiected  in  a  similar  way  when  a  per- 
son makes  powerful  and  reiterated  efforts  to  compre- 
hend a  difficult  subject.  Both  these  actions,  therefore, 
are  called  by  the  same  name,  and  a  man  is  said  to  pen- 
etrate the  wood  with  an  instniment,  or  to  penetrate 
into  the  subject  of  his  investigations.  Thus  joy  is 
said  to  expand  the  breast,  because  it  does,  in  fact,  pro- 
duce a  sensation  which  resembles  this  action.  There 
is  a  great  variety  of  figurative  language  founded  on  this 
principle.  Indeed,  there  is  little  said  respecting  the 
M2 


274       THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

mind,  and  its  qualities  and  operations,  where  we  do  not 
apply  terms  that  describe  the  qualities,  actions,  and  re- 
lations of  matter. 

It  is  also  the  case  that  actions  and  relations  that  re- 
semble each  other  are  called  by  the  same  name,  with- 
out regard  to  the  objects  in  which  they  exist.  Thus 
the  skies  are  said  to  weep.  Here  there  is,  in  fact,  the 
same  action  as  is  weeping  in  mankind,  and  it  receives 
the  same  name,  though  it  is  connected  with  a  different 
subject.  Thus,  also,  the  sword  is  said  to  be  "  drunk 
with  the  blood  of  the  slain."  Here  the  same  relation 
exists  between  the  blood  and  the  sword  as  between  a 
man  and  an  immoderate  quantity  of  liquor,  and  the  re- 
lation receives  the  same  name  in  each  case. 

An  allegory  is  a  succession  of  incidents  and  circum- 
stances told  of  one  thing  which  continually  recall  an- 
other thing,  which  it  resembles  in  the  particulars  men- 
tioned. Thus  the  aged  Indian  chief  describes  him- 
self by  an  allegory:  "I  am  an  aged  hemlock.  The 
winds  of  a  hundred  years  have  swept  over  its  branch- 
es ;  it  is  dead  at  the  top ;  those  that  grew  around  have 
all  mouldered  away." 

A  jparahle  is  of  the  same  character  as  an  allegory. 

A  type  is  an  object  of  conception  in  which  many 
of  its  qualities  and  relations  resemble  another  object 
that  succeeds  it  in  regard  to  time. 

Hyperbole  is  a  collection  of  actions,  qualities,  or  cir- 
cumstances ascribed  to  an  object  which  are  contrary  to 
the  laws  of  experience,  and  this  language  is  em- 
ployed to  express  excited  feeling.  Thus,  by  hyper- 
bole, a  person  is  said  to  be  ''''drowned  in  tears." 

Irony  is  language  used  in  such  a  manner  as  to  con- 


INTERPRETATION    OF   LANGUAGE.  275 

tradict  the  known  opinions  of  the  speaker,  and  is  in- 
tended to  represent  the  absurdity  or  irrationality  of 
some  thing  conceived  by  him. 

Symbols  aire  material  things  employed  to  convey 
the  ideas  of  one  mind  to  another.  Thus,  as  the  culti- 
vation of  the  olive  is  connected  with  seasons  of  peace, 
an  olive  branch  is  used  to  express  the  idea  of  peace. 

Symbolic  language  is  the  use  of  words  that  are 
names  of  symbols  in  place  of  the  names  of  things  rep- 
resented by  symbols.  Thus  the  word  olive  might  be 
used  instead  of  the  word  peace. 

Figurative  language,  especially  metaphors  and  sym- 
bolic words,  abound  in  the  writings  of  the  earliest  na- 
tions ;  and  as  what  are  claimed  to  be  the  earliest  rev- 
elations of  the  Creator  are  recorded  in  these  languages, 
the  rules  for  interpreting  figurative  language  are  of  the 
highest  importance. 

The  preceding  illustrates  the  principles  upon  which 
both  literal  and  figurative  language  are  constructed. 
The  question  now  arises.  How  are  we  to  determine 
when  expressions  are  to  be  interpreted  literally  and 
when  they  are  figurative?  One  single  rule  will  be 
found  sufiicient  in  all  cases,  viz. : 

All  language  is  literal  when  the  common  meaning 
of  each  word  is  consistent  with  our  experience  as  to 
the  nature  of  things,  and  consistent  with  the  other  sen- 
timents of  the  writer. 

All  language  is  figurative  when  the  names,  quali- 
ties, and  actions  ascribed  to  things  are  inconsistent 
with  our  experience  of  the  nature  of  things,  or  contra- 
dict the  known  opinions  of  the  writer. 

In  the  preceding  examples  of  figurative  language,  it 


276  THE    BIBLE    AND   THE    PEOPLE. 

can  readily  be  seen  that  a  literal  interpretation  would 
in  all  cases  form  combinations  of  ideas  whicli  are  op- 
posed to  experience  as  to  the  nature  of  things.  For 
example,  ''^  grief '^  can  not  be  conceived  of  as  "bedew- 
ing a  face,"  because  it  is  an  emotion  of  mind ;  nor  do 
"  hoary  hairs''  literally  ever  receive  honor ;  nor  do 
"groves  sing,"  nor  "night  weigh  down  the  eyes." 

In  like  manner,  where  the  qualities  of  one  thing  are 
ascribed  to  another  with  which  it  has  been  connected, 
there  is  no  difficulty  in  determining  that  the  language 
is  figurative;  for  a  "wound"  can  not  have  the  quality 
of  "  daring,"  which  belongs  only  to  mind,  nor  can  a 
"pipe"  be  literally  considered  as  "merry,"  or  "mid- 
night" as  "musing;"  nor  w^ould  it  be  consistent  with 
experience  to  think  of  a  "  chair"  as  "  drooping."  Nor 
in  the  case  of  personification  is  there  any  more  cause 
of  difficulty.  Mercy  and  truth,  righteousness,  peace, 
and  -^visdom,  are  qualities  of  mind,  and  can  not  be  con- 
ceived of  as  "  meeting,"  "  embracing,"  and  "  crying 
aloud"  in  any  other  than  a  figurative  sense.  And 
when  the  ocean  is  said  to  "  lift  up  his  hands,"  and  the 
sun  and  moon  to  "  stand  still  in  their  habitations," 
the  laws  of  experience  forbid  any  but  a  fignirative  in- 
terpretation. 

In  the  case  of  an  allegory  and  all  symbolic  lan- 
guage, the  same  rule  applies  with  equal  clearness  and 
certainty.  In  the  example  given,  it  would  be  a  viola- 
tion of  the  laws  of  experience  to  conceive  of  a  man  as 
a  tree  with  branches  and  a  withered  top. 

Hyperhole  is  readily  distinguished  by  the  same  rule. 
Irony  is  known  by  its  being  contradictory  to  the 
known  opinions  of  the  writer.     Thus  there  is  never 


INTERPRETATION   OF   LANGUAGE.  277 

any  difficulty  in  deciding  when  language  is  literal  and 
when  it  is  figurative  in  cases  where  men  have  the  laws 
of  experience  by  which  to  determine. 

On  the  supposition  of  a  revelation  from  the  Creator, 
there  must  he  subjects  upon  which  mankind  have  had 
no  experience,  such  as  the  nature  of  the  Deity,  the 
character  and  circumstances  of  the  invisible  world  and 
of  its  inhabitants.  On  these  subjects  all  language 
must  be  literal  when  the  literal  construction  is  not  in 
contradiction  to  the  known  or  implied  opinion  of  the 
other  declarations ;  for  on  these  subjects,  as  the  laws 
of  experience  can  not  regulate  in  deciding  between  fig- 
urative and  literal  language,  it  is  impossible  to  show 
any  reason  why  words  should  not  be  literal  except  by 
comparison  with  the  other  statements  of  the  same  au- 
thor. If  these  show  no  reasons  for  supposing  it  figu- 
rative, it  must  of  necessity  be  considered  as  literal ;  for 
if  neither  experience  nor  the  writer's  opinions  oppose 
a  literal  meaning,  there  is  no  cause  why  the  ordinary 
and  common  signification  of  words  should  not  be  re- 
tained. 

The  next  inquiry  is.  How  are  we  to  ascertain  the 
ideas  which  are  to  be  attached  to  words  that  are  used 
figuratively  ?  If  the  common  ideas  which  are  recalled 
by  words  are  not  the  proper  ones,  what  are  the  data  for 
knowing  which  are  the  ideas  to  be  recalled?  The 
laws  of  association,  upon  which  language  is  founded, 
furnish  an  adequate  foundation  for  determining  this 
question.  If  language  is  such  that  a  literal  construc- 
tion is  contrary  to  the  nature  of  things,  the  words  used 
figuratively  must  express  something  which  has  been 
connected  with  the  object  recalled  by  the  literal  signi- 


278  THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   PEOPLE. 

fication,  either  as  cause  or  effect,  or  as  something  which 
it  resembles,  or  as  something  it  has  been  connected 
with  as  Si.  part,  or  by  circumstances  oi  time  ox  place. 
Of  course,  a  process  of  reasoning  will  soon  decide 
which  of  these  must  be  selected.  Take,  for  example, 
the  expression, 

"Streaming  grief  his  faded  cheek  bedewed." 

Here,  as  "grief"  can  not  bedew  the  cheek,  it  must  be 
the  name  of  something  which  has  been  connected  with 
grief,  either  by  the  principle  of  resemblance,  contiguity 
in  time  or  place,  or  by  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect. 
It  is  easy  to  determine  that  it  can  not  be  either  of 
these  except  the  last.  Tears  are  the  effect  of  sorrow, 
and  are  therefore  called  by  this  name.  The  nature  of 
the  idea  conveyed  by  the  figurative  term  will  show 
whether  the  cause  or  effect,  or  some  object  related  to  it 
as  it  respects  time,  place,  or  resemblance,  is  intended, 
and  no  difficulty  can  ever  occur  in  deciding.  In  all 
cases  this  general  rule  avails :  when  words  are  used 
figuratively,  such  ideas  as  have  been  in  any  way  con- 
nected with  them  are  to  be  retained  as  will  be  consist- 
ent with  the  known  nature  of  things,  and  consistent 
with  other  assertions  of  the  writer. 

In  regard  to  the  literal  use  of  language,  it  has  been 
shown  that  the  same  term  is  sometimes  used  for  the 
name  of  the  thing  ordinarily  expressed  by  it,  some- 
times for  its  cause,  sometimes  for  its  effect,  and  some- 
times as  including  all  these  ideas.  The  rule  for  de- 
termining in  which  of  theso'  senses  the  term  is  used  is 
the  same  as  in  regard  to  figurative  language,  viz.,  that 
signification  must  be  attached  to  the  term  which  is  in 


INTERPRETATION   OP  LANGUAGE.  279 

agreement  with  experience  as  to  the  nature  of  things, 
and  with  the  other  sentiments  of  the  writer.  Thus, 
in  relation  to  the  example  given  of  the  term  pride, 
suppose  a  child  is  called  the  "  pride  of  its  parents." 
"We  know  it  can  not  mean  the  emotion  of  mind  ;  that 
it  can  not  mean  the  effects  of  this  state  of  mind ;  and 
its  only  other  meaning  is  found  consistent  with  expe- 
rience, viz.,  it  is  the  cause  or  occasion  of  pride  to  its 
parents.  The  same  mode  of  reasoning  can  be  applied 
to  the  other  uses  of  the  term.  If  a  man  is  said  to  feel 
pride,  there  is  but  one  meaning  which  can  be  attached 
to  the  term.  If  it  is  said  that  "  the  pride  of  the  world 
passeth  away,"  it  includes  the  whole,  and  signifies  that 
the  causes  of  pride  pass  away,  and  with  them  the  emo- 
tions and  the  effects. 

The  following,  then,  are  the  clear  and  simple  rules 
to  employ  in  interpreting  all  language : 

LAWS   OF  INTERPRETATION. 

1.  The  literal,  ordinary  meaning  is  to  be  given  to 
all  words,  unless  it  would  express  what  is  inconsist- 
ent with  experience  as  to  the  nature  of  things,  or  in- 
consistent with  the  opinions  of  the  writer. 

2.  When  the  words  in  a  sentence  are  capable  of 
several  literal  meanings,  that  is  to  be  chosen  which 
makes  the  writer  most  consistent  with  himself  and 
with  all  known  circumstances. 

3.  When  the  literal  meaning  expresses  what  is  not 
consistent  with  the  nature  of  things  or  with  the  writ- 
er's other  declarations,  then  the  language  is  figurative, 
and  only  such  a  part  of  the  ideas  as  have  been  in  any 


280        THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

way  connected  with  the  words  used  are  to  be  retained 
as  will  secure  such  consistency. 

4.  In  deciding  the  meaning  of  words,  we  are  to  be 
guided  by  the  principles  of  common  sense,  viz. :  No 
meaning  is  to  be  given  unless  there  is  some  evidence 
that  it  is  true  ;  and,  when  there  is  conflicting  evidence, 
that  meaning  is  the  true  one  which  has  the  balance  of 
evidence  in  its  favor. 


ADDENDA    TO    VOL.  L 


The  second  volume  will  commence  with  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  Mild  of  evidence  which  sustains  the  Bible 
as  a  collection  of  authentic  and  authoritative  records 
of  revelations  from  the  Creator.  This  kind  of  evi- 
dence, it  will  be  shown,  in  one  grand  feature  is  entire- 
ly diverse  from  any  that  ever  existed,  or  even  that  was 
ever  clawied  to  exist  in  reference  to  any  pretended 
revelations. 

It  will  also  be  shown  that  this  evidence  is  as  strong 
and  reliable  as  that  which  regulates  men  in  their  daily- 
practical  concerns. 

This  attempt  the  writer  supposes  to  be,  in  some  re- 
spects, peculiar,  and  one  that  is  particularly  calculated 
to  affect  popular  apprehension,  especially  that  of  well- 
balanced  and  practical  minds.  Instead  of  a  great  ar- 
ray of  detail  and  argument,  the  whole  will  be  contain- 
ed in  a  very  few  pages,  easily  comprehended,  and  de- 
manding but  little  time  or  effort. 

In  the  next  place,  the  laws  of  interpretation,  and  the 
principles  of  common  sense  as  set  forth  in  this  volume, 
will  be  applied  to  discover  the  answers  of  the  Sacred 
Oracles  to  the  great  questions  of  life,  and  their  agree- 
ment with  reason,  experience,  and  tlie  moral  sense  of 
mankind. 

This  will  involve  a  discussion  of  \\\q  philosopJiical 
theories  which  it  is  believed  have  obscured  and  dimin- 


282  ADDENDA. 

ished  the  influence  of  the  great  Atoning  Sacrifice  of 
"the  Great  God  our  Savior  Jesus  Christ." 

The  work  will  conclude  with  the  practical  applica- 
tion of  the  views  set  forth  to  the  greatest  of  all  human 
interests,  the  right  training  of  the  human  mind  in  in- 
fancy and  childhood. 

Before  offering  to  the  public  the  topics  to  be  em- 
braced in  the  last  volume,  it  is  deemed  expedient  to 
present  the  great  j^rincvples  on  which  all  the  discus- 
sions are  to  rest,  and  also  a  fair  illustration  of  the 
mode  in  which  these  principles  will  be  applied. 

The  following  is  the  illustrative  example : 

Theological  Dogma  of  a  Depraved  Mental  Consti- 
tution, 

In  the  preceding  pages  we  have  seen  the  evidence 
that  the  mind  of  man  is  perfect  in  its  constitutional 
powers^  and  is  thus  the  chief  and  highest  evidence  of 
the  wisdom,  justice,  and  benevolence  of  its  Creator. 

But  the  systems  of  theology  in  all  the  Christian 
sects,  excepting  a  small  fraction,  teach  that  the  mind 
of  man  comes  into  existence  in  this  world  with  "«  de- 
praved nature  ;"  meaning  by  this  a  mental  constitu- 
tion more  or  less  depraved. 

That  this  is  the  ordinary  dogma  of  theological  teach- 
ings is  clear  from  this  statement  of  the  case.  A  thing 
can  be  wrong  in  only  two  conceivable  ways  :  one  is 
by  its  nature  or  original  construction,  and  the  other  is 
by  its  action.  The  mind  of  man,  therefore,  if  it  is  not 
perfect  every  way,  is  either  wrong  in  construction  or 
■wrong  in  action.  Now  no  person  ever  claimed  that 
the   mind  of  man  was   not  depraved  in  action,  and 


DOGMA   OF  A   DEPKAYED   CONSTITUTION.        283 

therefore  all  who  teach  that  it  is  depraved  any  other 
waj  must  teach  that  it  is  depraved  in  its  constitution, 
or  in  that  nature  it  received  from  its  Maker,  for  there 
are  only  these  two  modes  of  depravity  conceivable. 

It  being  granted,  then,  that  the  mind  of  our  race  is 
depraved  in  its  nature,  of  course  the  Author  of  this  na- 
ture is  responsible  for  this  inconceivable  and  whole- 
sale wrong.  This  forces  us  to  the  inevitable  conclu- 
sion that  the  Creator  of  mind  is  a  being  guilty  of  the 
highest  conceivable  folly,  injustice,  and  malignity. 
For  reason  and  common  sense  teach  that  "the  nature 
of  a  contrivance  is  proof  of  the  character  and  intention 
of  its  author."  Therefore,  if  mind  is  depraved  in  con- 
struction, the  Author  of  it  is  a  depraved  being,  and  to- 
tally unworthy  of  our  trust,  respect,  or  love. 

This  is  the  argument  which,  in  all  ages,  has  been 
pressed  on  those  theologians  who  maintain  the  dogma 
of  the  depraved  nature  of  man,  and  there  have  been 
these  various  methods  by  which  this  difficulty  has 
been  evaded : 

One  class  openly  avow  that  the  Creator  had  power 
to  make  the  mind  of  man  perfect  in  all  respects,  and 
that  lie  has  proved  that  he  has  this  power  by  making 
the  minds  of  angels  and  of  our  first  parents  thus  per- 
fect. But,  in  consequence  of  our  first  parents  eating 
the  forbidden  fruit,  every  mind  created  since  that  time 
has  been  ruined  in  the  making,  so  as  to  be  totally  de- 
praved. This,  it  is  maintained,  it  was  right  for  God 
to  do.  How  it  was  right  we  have  no  business  to  in- 
quire. It  is  an  awful  mystery ;  but  it  was  so  done 
that  God  "is  in  no  way  the  author  of  sin." 

This  amounts  simply  to  a  denial  of  the  principle  of 


284  ADDENDA. 

reason,  "that  the  nature  of  a  contrivance  is  proof  of  the 
intention  and  character  of  the  contriver."  It  is  saying 
that  the  author  of  sin  is  not  the  author  of  sin. 

This  will  be  still  farther  apparent  if  we  refer  to 
page  158,  where  is  exhibited  the  only  conceivable 
modes  in  which  one  being  can  be  the  cause  of  sin  or 
of  wrong  action  in  others.  God  is  undisputably  the 
author  of  all  the  outivard  circumstances  that  suiTOund 
us.  If,  then,  he  has  made  our  susceptibilities  wrong, 
or  combined  them  wrong,  he  is  the  author  of  sin  in  ev- 
ery conceivable  sense. 

Whoever,  therefore,  affirms  that  God  is  the  author 
of  a  depraved  mental  organization  of  the  human  mind, 
affirms  that  he  is  "  the  author  of  sin"  in  every  con- 
ceivable sense.  To  assert  such  a  fact,  and  then  deny 
that  God  is  the  author  of  sin,  is  simply  a  contradic- 
tion in  terras. 

To  avoid  this  dilemma,  theologians  have  instituted 
the  following  theories  : 

The  first  class  teach  that  the  first  pair  of  the  hu- 
man race  were  made  with  perfect  minds,  and  then  stood 
as  representatives  of  the  race  and  sinned  for  the  whole. 
The  first  part  of  the  penalty  came  on  the  actual  sin- 
ners in  the  ruin  of  their  own  mental  constitution,  and 
then,  all  men  being  represented  in  Adam  and  Eve,  the 
Creator  "imputed"  this  sin  to  all  their  posterity,  and, 
as  a  penalty,  all  receive  a  depraved  mental  constitution. 

That  is  to  say,  though  each  of  the  unborn  millions 
descended  from  Adam  was  innocent  of  the  crime,  in 
order  to  be  just,  God  "  imputes"  it  to  each,  and,  as  a 
penalty,  ruins  each  in  its  organization,  when  He  has 
full  power  to  make  perfect  minds. 


DOGMA   OF   A   DEPRAVED   CONSTITUTION.        285 

Another  class  assume  that  the  Creator  established 
such  a  constitution  of  things  that  the  nature  of  one 
mind  is  transmitted  to  all  its  myriad  descendants,  by 
the  same  law  as  the  nature  of  a  plant  is  included  in 
one  seed  and  is  transmitted  to  all  of  its  future  kind. 
The  first  parents  of  our  race,  receiving  perfect  minds 
from  their  Creator,  ruined  them  by  one  act  of  disobe- 
dience. Then,  by  the  above  law,  instituted  by  their 
Maker,  they  transmitted  this  depraved  constitution  of 
mind  to  all  their  descendants. 

This  mode  of  evading  responsibility  is  about  as 
honorable  as  if  a  teacher  should  so  construct  springs 
and  traps  for  his  pupils  that  one  little  fellow,  when 
forbidden  to  do  it,  should  touch  a  spring  that  should 
cut  oif  his  own  hand,  and  thus  move  other  springs 
that  would  maim  all  the  rest  of  the  school,  while 
the  master  lays  all  the  blame  on  the  child  that  diso- 
beyed. 

Another  class  teach  that  the  first  man  and  woman 
of  the  race  were  made  with  perfect  minds,  and  then 
such  a  constitution  of  things  was  instituted  by  God 
that  every  mind  of  the  human  race  was  so  existing 
with  or  in  them,  that  when  Adam  and  Eve  voluntari- 
ly disobeyed  the  Creator's  first  law,  every  one  of  their 
descendants  voluntarily  did  the  same  thing ;  and  then, 
as  a  penalty  for  the  deed,  the  parent  and  every  one  of 
the  embryo  descendants  became  "  totally  depraved." 

This  theory,  which  makes  every  human  being  guilty 
of  a  crime  thousands  of  years  before  we  were  bom,  and 
for  which  we  are  suffering  the  most  awful  of  all  penal- 
ties, has  nearly  passed  away  to  the  puerilities  of  the 
old  schoolmen,  and  yet  there  are  some  of  the  most 


286  ADDENDA. 

popular  professors  in  our  largest  and  moat  respectable 
theological  seminaries  who  are  publicly  advocating  it 
at  this  very  time. 

Another  method  promulgated  is  the  assumption  that 
all  the  race  were  originally  created  perfect,  and  then, 
while  in  the  possession  of  every  possible  advantage  for 
virtue  and  happiness,  they  ruined  themselves  in  a  pre- 
vious state  of  existence.  This  is  the  only  theory  which 
really  meets  the  difficulty,  and  relieves  the  character  of 
the  Creator  from  being  the  guilty  author  of  depraved 
minds. 

But  this  theory,  even  if  it  could  be  established  by  rev- 
elation, does  not  remedy  the  strong  argument  of  reason 
and  experience  against  the  wisdom  and  benevolence  of 
the  Creator,  on  the  assumption  of  a  depraved  consti- 
tution of  mind.  The  man  denying  a  revelation,  who 
is  called  upon  to  receive  one,  can  say.  Here  is  a  race, 
every  one  of  whom  is  ruined,  and,  so  far  as  I  can  see, 
in  the  making  of  his  mind  by  the  Creator.  Therefore 
this  Creator,  by  his  works,  is  shown  to  be  a  being  of 
infinite  folly  and  malignity,  from  whom  no  reliable 
revelation  is  possible. 

Granting  the  mind  to  be  depraved,  the  light  of  rea- 
son inevitably  guides  to  a  weak  or  malevolent  Creator. 
To  illustrate  this,  suppose  a  man  is  seen  manufacturing 
beautiful  porcelain  vases,  and  out  of  the  "  clay  of  the 
same  lump,"  as  he  makes  them,  he  spoils  every  one, 
cracking,  marring,  and  defacing  them  in  the  very  proc- 
ess of  manufacture.  Now  suppose  this  person  should 
turn  to  a  witness,  and  offer  to  instruct  him  in  the  best 
way  of  doing  things,  what  would  be  the  common-sense 
reply  ?     Exactly  that  which  would  be  due  to  a  Creator 


DOGMA  OF  A  DEPRAVED  CONSTITUTION.        287 

who  has  ruined  every  mind  he  sent  into  this  world,  and 
then  proposes  to  reveal  the  right  way  for  those  ruined 
creatures  to  act ! 

Another  illustration  may  be  permitted.  Suppose  a 
colony,  by  some  mischance,  settles  on  an  isolated  isl- 
and, which  is  found  covered  with  the  tobacco  plant. 
They  clear  their  plantations,  but  find  that,  by  a  re- 
markable and  unintelligible  arrangement,  after  every 
shower  there  is  a  fall  of  tobacco  seeds,  disseminated 
from  an  inaccessible  height  by  a  machine  erected  for 
the  purpose  and  constantly  supplied. 

After  some  years,  they  receive  a  missive  from  the 
king  to  whom  the  island  belongs,  in  which  he  informs 
them  that  tobacco  is  the  chief  object  of  his  detestation; 
that  it  is  doing  incalculable  mischief  to  his  subjects ; 
that  it  is  the  chief  end  of  his  life,  and  he  wishes  it  to 
be  of  theirs,  to  exterminate  the  plant,  and  thus  its  use. 

He,  at  the  same  time,  states  that  he  is  the  author 
of  the  contrivance  for  scattering  the  seed,  and  that  he 
keeps  it  constantly  supplied,  and  claims  that  he  has  a 
right  '*to  do  what  he  will  with  his  own,"  without  be- 
ing questioned  by  his  subjects. 

He  then  enacts  that  any  person  who  is  found  to  use 
tobacco,  or  even  to  have  a  single  seed  or  plant  on  his 
premises,  shall  be  burned  ahve  in  a  caldron  of  fire  and 
brimstone. 

If,  in  addition  to  this,  that  king  were  to  command 
supreme  love  to  him,  and  perfect  confidence  in  his  wis- 
dom, justice,  and  goodness,  all  this  would  but  faintly 
illustrate  that  awful  system  under  consideration,  whose 
penalties  are  eternal. 

The  assumption  that  the  constitution  of  mind  is  de- 


288  ADDENDA. 

praved  not  only  destroys  tlie  evidence  of  the  Creator's 
wisdom  and  benevolence  by  tlie  light  of  reason,  but 
destroys  the  possibility  of  a  credible  and  reliable  rev- 
elation from  hhn. 

For  the  belief  in  the  existence  of  a  God  is  depend- 
ent on  an  intuitive  truth,  while  his  character  is  under- 
stood, without  a  revelation,  only  by  the  aid  of  that  in- 
tuitive truth  which  teaches  that  the  nature  of  his 
works  proves  his  character  and  designs.  Now  if  his 
greatest  work,  the  immortal  mind,  that  which  alone 
gives  any  value  to  his  other  works,  is  malformed,  and 
thus  made  the  cause  of  all  the  misery,  crime,  and  evil 
of  this  life,  what  is  there  to  give  any  foundation  for 
confidence  that  his  revelations  will  not  be  false,  per- 
nicious, and  malignant  ? 

No  man  can  start  with  the  assumption  that  there  is 
a  revelation  from  the  Creator  that  needs  no  proof.  The 
only  basis  for  such  a  revelation  is  that  intuitive  truth 
by  the  aid  of  which  miracles  and  prophecy  become  ev- 
idences of  the  interposition  of  the  Creator.  Thus  we 
perceive  that  the  proof  that  "the  author  of  a  depraved 
constitution  of  mind  is  a  depraved  being,"  is  as  strong 
as  the  evidence  of  a  revelation  by  miracles  and  proph- 
ecy can  be. 

In  regard  to  these  theories,  and  in  regard  to  the  dog- 
ma of  theology  which  they  are  instituted  to  explain,  it 
is  claimed  that  both  reason  and  the  Bible  equally  for- 
bid each  and  all  of  them. 

It  has  already  been  shown,  in  Chapters  xxii.  and 
xxiii.,  that  all  the  evidence  of  reason  and  experience 
goes  to  prove  that  the  mind  of  man  is  perfect  in  its  or- 
ganization.    We  have  only  to  inquire,  then,  in  regard 


DOGMA  OF  A  DEPRAVED  CONSTITUTION.    289 

to  the  evidence  claimed  to  be  found  in  revelations  from 
the  Creator. 

Before  examining  this  evidence,  it  is  important  to 
notice  the  distinction  between  revealed  facts  and  the 
theories  invented  to  explain  them. 

The/ac^,  which  both  experience  and  revelation  agree 
in  teaching,  is  that  man,  as  a  race,  is  guilty  and  de- 
praved in  action^  and  that  from  the  earliest  periods  of 
life  this  depraved  action  is  manifested. 

The  theories  relate  to  the  cause  of  this  wrong  action, 
and  there  are  only  two.  The  first  theory  is,  that  the 
constitution  of  mind  is  perfect,  and  that  the  wrong  ac- 
tion results  from  a  want  of  experience,  knowledge, 
right  habits,  right  training,  and  right  social  influences. 

The  second  theory  is,  that  the  constitution  of  mind 
is  depraved,  and  that  its  wrong  action  is  the  inevitable 
result  of  this  wrong  construction. 

Then  come  the  theories  in  reference  to  the  cause  of 
this  assumed  malformation  of  mind.  There  are  only 
two  ever  assigned,  viz.,  God  and  man :  God  by  crea- 
tion, and  man  by  sinning  in  Adam  or  before  Adam  in 
a  pre-existent  state. 

By  those  who  ascribe  the  deed  to  God,  it  is  claimed 
that  he  perpetrated  this  wholesale  wrong  to  our  race 
in  one  of  two  ways,  viz.,  either  by  the  direct  miscrea- 
tion  of  each  mind  at  or  near  the  time  of  birth,  or  by 
creating  such  a  constitution  of  things  that  by  one  wrong 
act  the  first  pair  transmitted,  from  parent  to  child, 
through  the  whole  race,  a  vitiated  and  depraved  men- 
tal constitution. 

We  now  resort  to  the  Bible  to  ascertain  what  are  its 
teachings  on  this  subject, 
ISi 


290  ADDENDA. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  we  find  a  constant  recogni- 
tion of  the  fact  of  a  depraved  action  of  mind,  and  that 
this  commences  at  the  earliest  period  of  life.  On  this, 
as  a  revealed  fact,  there  is  no  debate. 

Next,  in  regard  to  the  theories  instituted  to  account 
for  this  fact.  Here  we  shall  only  discuss  the  com- 
monly accepted  theory  of  the  Christian  world,  and  leave 
the  other  for  the  future  volume. 

The  main  reliance  for  the  support  of  the  common 
theory  of  a  miscreated  mind  is  found  in  Genesis,  chap- 
ters i.  and  v.,  which,  it  is  claimed,  teaches,  in  the  first 
place,  that  God  could  and  did  create  the  first  human 
pair  with  minds  perfectly  organized,  and,  next,  that 
after  they  sinned,  their  descendants  came  into  life  with 
a  depraved  mental  constitution.  The  passages  read 
thus: 

Gen.,  i.,  26,  27:  '-^And  Godsend,  ''Let  us  make  man 
in  OUT  image,  after  our  liheness.'^  " 

"xSb  God  created  man  in  his  ovm  image;  in  the 
image  of  God  created  he  him,  male  and  female  cre- 
ated he  them,'''' 

Gen.,  v.,  3 :  '''-And  Adam  leg  at  a  son  in  his  own 
liJceness,  after  his  image,  and  called  his  name  SethJ'"' 

The  whole  question  in  these  passages  turns  on  the 
meaning  of  the  words  "image"  and  "likeness." 

Now  the  only  conceptions  possible  of  the  "  image 
or  likeness"  of  a  human  mind  to  its  spiritual  Creator 
are,  first,  resemblance  in  its  constitutional  powers  of 
intellect,  susceptibility,  and  will,  and,  next,  resem- 
blance in  the  action  of  these  faculties. 

That  man  is  the  image  andlikeness  of  his  Maker  in 
constitutional  powers  is  clear,  because  we  can  not  have 


DOGMA   OF   A   DEPEAVED   CONSTITUTION.        291 

any  conception  of  the  Creator  but  as  of  a  mind  like 
our  own,  infinite  in  the  extent  of  such  capacities.  This, 
then,  is  one  respect  in  which  the  first  pair  could  be  in 
the  image  or  likeness  to  God. 

The  other  only  conceivable  respect  in  which  they 
could  resemble  their  Creator  is  by  their  own  volunta- 
ry action^  and  this  can  not  he  conceived  of  as  created, 

Man  is  the  sole  producing  cause  (see  page  158)  of  his 
own  voluntary  acts,  which  alone  decide  moral  charac- 
ter. Should  God  create  these,  man  would  cease  to  be 
their  author  and  cease  to  be  a  free  agent. 

It  is  thus  manifest  that  a  mind  can  be  created  in 
the  image  of  God,  so  far  as  we  can  conceive,  only  in 
its  constitutional  powers  of  intellect,  susceptibility,  and 
will. 

This  being  established  as  the  meaning  of  the  word 
when  it  is  said  that  Adam  begat  Seth  "in  his  own  im- 
age," if  it  has  reference  to  the  mind  alone,  or  chiefly, 
then  it  means  that  the  mental  organization  of  the  child 
was  like  the  parent's,  and  thus  like  the  Creator's. 

In  the  New  Testament,  the  chief  passages  which  are 
supposed  to  bear  on  this  subject  are  in  Komans,  chap- 
ter V.     These  are  the  main  texts : 

Verse  12  :  "  Wherefore  as  hy  one  man  sin  entered 
into  "the  world,  and  death  hy  sin,  and  so  death  ])assed 
ujpon  all  men  for  that  all  have  sinned.''^ 

Verse  19  :  ^^For  as  hy  one  onan's  disohedience  nnany 
were  inade  sinners,  so  hy  the  ohedience  of  one  shall 
many  he  made  inghteoiisy 

Here  we  again  are  to  discriminate  between  facts 
and  theories.  The  facts  here  stated  are,  that  by  one 
man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death  by  sin  ;  that 


292  ADDENDA. 

death  comes  on  all  men  because  all  sin ;  and  that  by 
one  man's  disobedience  many  were  made  sinners. 

Then  come  the  theories  as  to  the  mode  by  which 
many  were  made  sinners  by  the  sin  of  one  man. 

Here  the  Bible  is  silent.  But  theologians  have 
manufactured  the  theory  that  when  Adam  sinned  the 
constitution  of  his  mind  was  changed,  and  then  that 
this  nature  was  transmitted  to  his  descendants.  All 
this  is  without  a  word  of  proof. 

Others  have  assumed  that  all  mankind  were  exist- 
ing in  Adam,  and  "  sinned  in  him,  and  fell  with  him," 
which  is  both  unintelligible,  and  equally  without  sup- 
port from  the  Bible. 

These,  it  is  believed,  are  all  ever  claimed  as  direct 
Scripture  evidence  of  a  depraved  constitution  of  mind 
consequent  on  Adam's  sin.  Two  other  passages  are 
quoted  as  having  an  indirect  bearing  on  this  subject. 
They  are  as  follows : 

2  Peter,  ii.,  4 :  ''''For  if  God  spared  not  the  angels 
that  sinned,  but  cast  them  down  to  hell,  and  delivered 
them  into  chains  of  darkness  to  he  reserved  imtojudg^ 
menf — 

Jude,  6  verse:  '-'-And  the  angels  which  kept  not 
their  first  estate,  hut  left  their  own  hahitation,  he  hath 
reserved  in  everlasting  chains  under  dark7iess  unto  the 
judgment  of  the  great  day  J''' 

In  regard  to  these  passages,  we  are  to  notice,  as  be- 
fore, first,  the  facts  revealed,  and,  next,  the  theories  in- 
stituted in  regard  to  them. 

The  facts  are,  that  there  are  two  classes  of  angels, 
those  that  have  sinned  and  those  that  have  not ;  that 
those  that  sinned  kept  not  their  first  estate,  but  left 


DOGMA   OF   A   DEPRAVED   CONSTITUTION.         293 

their  habitations ;  that  God  cast  them  down  to  hell, 
and  that  they  are  reserved  in  chains  of  darkness  unto 
the  judgment  of  the  great  day. 

These  are  all  the  facts  disclosed.  Not  a  word  is 
said  as  to  the  cause  or  reason  why  some  sinned  and 
some  did  not,  nor  as  to  the  mode  or  manner  by  which 
these  events  were  brought  about.  Here  the  theories 
come  in. 

Those  who  maintain  the  depravity  of  the  human 
mental  constitution  frame  their  theory  on  these  pas- 
sages thus : 

It  is  here  taught  that  there  are  a  class  of  minds  that 
have  never  sinned.  There  must  be  a  cause  for  this 
diversity  from  man's  experience.  This  cause  is  a 
perfect  mental  constitution.  This,  it  is  seen,  is  a 
mere  assumption,  without  a  word  of  proof  from  the 
passages  quoted  I  What  is  quite  as  remarkable  is, 
that  this  theory  is  maintained  in  the  face  of  the  con- 
cession that  both  Adam  and  the  fallen  angels  were  as 
well  endowed  as  the  unsinning  angels  in  regard  to 
mental  constitution,  and  yet  that  they  all  sinned  just  as 
the  descendants  of  Adam  have  done. 

This  dogma  has  been  sustained  by  certain  miscon- 
ceptions that  should  be  considered. 

The  first  is  in  the  use  of  the  term  "nature."  As 
this  word  is  ordinarily  used,  it  signifies  that  constitu- 
tion, received  from  the  Author  of  all  things,  which 
makes  certain  results  or  effects  invariable.  Thus, 
when  a  fountain  invariably  sends  forth  bitter  waters, 
it  is  called  its  ••'  nature"  to  do  so ;  when  a  tree  invari- 
ably produces  bitter  fruit,  this  is  called  its  "nature." 
Now  if  it  was  a  fact  that  the  human  mind  never  acted 


294  ADDENDA. 

right,  but  invariably  wrong,  it  would  be  proper  to  ap- 
ply this  terra,  and  to  say  that  in  its  "nature"  it  was 
totally  depraved. 

But  this  is  not  the  fact.  "  Sin  is  a  transgTCssion  of 
law,"  and  every  child,  from  the  first,  sometimes  obeys 
and  sometimes  disobeys  the  physical,  social,  and  mor- 
al laws  of  God.  ISTo  child  ever  invarictblij  breaks  them, 
but  sometimes  obeys  and  sometimes  disobeys. 

But  theologians  have  mystified  the  subject  by  as- 
suming the  very  thing  to  be  proved,  and  then  "rea- 
soning in  a  circle."  Thus  they  assume,  not  only  vrith- 
out,  but  contrary  to  evidence,  that  all  human  minds  in- 
vamahly  act  wrong  from  the  first ;  therefore  there  must 
be  a  cause,  and  this  cause  is  the  "  nature"  received, 
directly  or  indirectly,  from  the  Creator.  Then  they 
assume  that,  as  every  mind  is  "  totally  depraved"  in  its 
"nature,"  it  can  no  more  produce  holy  acts  tlian  a 
corrupt  tree  can  produce  good  fruit,  or  a  bitter  fountain 
send  forth  sweet  waters. 

Another  misconception  which  has  embarrassed  tliis 
subject  has  arisen  from  the  supposition  that  it  is  irrev- 
erent, and  contrary  to  the  Bible,  to  allow  any  limitation 
to  almighty  2^oim7\  even  in  "the  nature  of  things." 

But  it  can  be  clearly  shown  that  every  person  who 
maintains  that  there  is  a. Creator  who  is  "perfect"  in 
wisdom  and  benevolence,  does,  by  this  assertion,  main- 
tain that  very  limitation  to  which  the  objection  is  made. 
This  is  shown  by  means  of  accurate  definitions. 

Thus  "j^er/ec^  wisdom  is  that  which  adapts  the 
best 2^ossihle  means  to  the  best  j)Ossible  ends." 

(•i  Perfect  benevolence  is  tliat  which  produces  the 
greatest  ^possible  good  with  the  least  possible  evil." 


D0G:MA   of   a   DEPRAVED   CONSTITUTION.         295 

That  is  to  say,  a  Creator  wlio  is  perfect  in  wisdom 
and  goodness  lias  done  the  best  that  possibly  can  be 
done  for  the  great  universe  of  mind  in  all  its  infinite 
and  eternal  relations.  This  being  so,  certainly  He  has 
no  power  to  do  better.'''' 

The  only  way  this  is  evaded  is  by  using  different 
words  that  mean  the  same  thing,  and  then  refusing  to 
define  these  words,  or  to  accept  exact  -  definitions  of 
them  from  others. 

The  infidel,  who  allows  a  God  of  perfect  goodness 
and  wisdom,  and  the  strict  Calvinist,  who  is  shocked 
at  hearing  that  God  '-'-has  no  power'"'  to  make  a  bet- 
ter system,  or  one  that  has  less  of  evil,  say  the  very 
same  thing  themselves,  only  in  more  vague  and  misty 
modes  of  expression.  They,  therefore,  are  precluded 
from  objecting  to  positions  that  involve  such  a  lim- 
itation, when  it  is  the  very  one  which  they  themselves 
assume. 

To  affirm  that  almighty  power  can  make  black  white 
and  yet  black  at  the  same  time,  or  a  straight  Ime  crook- 
ed and  still  straight,  even  the  strictest  upholders  of  the 
extent  of  almighty  power  would  hesitate  to  afiirm,  be- 
cause they  are  contradictions  and  absurdities.  But 
they  teach  equal  contradictions  who  claim  that  a  mind 
can  be  created  with  knowledge,  habits,  and  experience, 
when  it  has  had  neither  instruction,  training,  or  expe- 
rience. 

Instead  of  claiming  these  absurdities  as  included  in 
our  ideas  of  this  attribute  of  Deity,  we  are  rather  to 
assume  that  by  almighty  power  is  signified  "a  power 
to  do  all  things  except  contradictions  and  absurdities.'''' 

Thus  has  been  presented  what  is  claimed  as  the  ev- 


2^6  ADDENDA. 

idence  in  the  Bible  in  favor  of  a  depraved  mental  con- 
stitution in  the  human  race,  and  it  is  maintained  that 
it  amounts  to  nothing  at  all. 

This  being  so,  then  we  appeal  to  the  principle  of 
reason  and  common  sense  (p.  25),  ''that  nothing  is  to 
he  assumed  as  true  U7iless  there  is  some  evidence  that 
it  is  soy 

Moreover,  in  Chapters  xxii.  and  xxiii.  is  exhibit- 
ed the  evidence  of  reason  and  experience  that  the  hu- 
man mind  is  perfectly  organized,  and  thus  the  highest 
evidence  of  its  Maker's  wisdom  and  benevolence. 

So  we  can  again  appeal  to  another  principle  of  rea- 
son, that  "  we  are  to  consider  that  right  which  has  the 
balance  of  evidence  in  its  favor, ''^  K  there  is  no  evi- 
dence to  prove  the  mind  of  man  depraved  in  organiza- 
tion, and  all  the  evidence  of  reason  and  experience  is  in 
favor  of  its  perfect  organization,  is  it  not  to  be  assumed 
that  it  is  thus  perfect  ? 

To  this  might  be  added  the  teachings  of  the  Bible 
in  the  same  direction.  But  this  is  deferred  to  the  fu- 
tm'e  volume.  In  the  present  illustrative  example,  the 
aim  is  simply  to  exhibit  the  fallacy  of  one  of  the  theo- 
logical theories  that  has  been  incorporated  as  a  part  of 
the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  thus  lessening  the  respect 
and  confidence  accorded  to  it,  and  impeding  the  true 
religious  development  of  our  race. 

How  it  has  happened  that  a  dogma,  which  is  so  con- 
trary to  the  moral  feelings  and  the  common  sense  of 
man,  and,  at  the  same  time,  unsupported  by  revelation, 
should  have  become  so  incorporated  with  the  teachings 
of  the  Christian  Church,  will  be  set  forth  in  the  next 
article. 


HISTOEY   OF   THE   DOGiVIA.  297 

History  of  the  Dogma. 

The  history  of  the  dogma  of  the  depraved  constitu- 
tion of  the  human  mind  imparted  directly  or  indirectly 
by  the  creative  agency  of  its  ]\Iaker  has  become  a  mat- 
ter of  profound  interest. 

So  far  as  appears,  theories  on  i\iQ philosophy  of  relig- 
ion did  not  agitate  the  apostolic  age.  Christianity  first 
spread  among  the  humbler  classes.  They  felt  that  they 
were  sinful  and  miserable  in  the  present  life,  and  looked 
with  dread  and  dismay  to  the  dark  passage  of  the 
grave  and  the  destinies  to  follow.  They  were  taught 
to  "believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,*'  and  that  thus 
they  would  become  good  and  happy  now  and  forever. 
This  they  understood  to  mean,  not  a  mere  intellectual 
conviction,  but  a  j^rac^imZ  faith,  in  which  Christ  was 
received  as  their  supreme  Lord  and  teacher  by  con- 
forniing  their  feelings  and  conduct  to  his  teachings. 

But,  after  a  while,  the  philosophers  and  rulers  be- 
came Christians,  and  then  commenced  the  two  grand 
evils :  first,  the  theories  of  p)hilosophy,  and,  next,  the 
enforcing  of  these  theories  hy  pains  and  penalties. 
About  A.D.  400  commenced  the  discussion  of  the  the- 
ory under  consideration.  Pelagius,  a  learned  and  de- 
vout man  of  Great  Britain,  aided  by  his  friend  Celcius, 
promulgated  the  common-sense  views  on  the  nature  of 
mind  derived  from  reason  and  experience,  mainly  as  set 
forth  in  this  volume,  and  claimed  that  these  views  were 
sustained  by  the  teachings  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment. He  and  his  friend  traveled  and  disseminated 
these  views  in  Great  Britain,  France,  Africa,  Italy,  and 
Palestine,  over  which  Christianity  to  a  great  extent 
N2 


298  ADDENDA. 

prevailed.  The  celebrated  Augustine,  a  man  of  great 
goodness,  talents,  and  learning,  became  their  leading 
antagonist.  He  set  forth  the  philosophical  theories 
afterward  adopted  and  taught  by  Calvin  in  the  form 
which  is  now  denominated  the  system  of  High  Calvin- 
is7n. 

This  system  starts  with  the  assumption  (without 
proof)  that  the  Creator  could  form  mind  on  a  more 
perfect  model  than  that  of  our  race,  and  that  he  2^'^'oved 
it  by  forming  the  minds  of  angels  and  of  our  first  pa- 
rents on  this  pattern.  But,  as  a  j)enaltj  for  one  act 
of  disobedience  by  them,  first  their  own  mental  con- 
stitution was  vitiated.  Next,  in  the  language  of  stand- 
ard Calvinists,  "  Such  as  man  was  afte}'  the  fall,  such 
children  did  he  beget ;  coiTuption,by  the  righteous  judg- 
ment of  God,  being  derived  from  Adam  to  his  posteri- 
ty, not  by  imitation,  but  by  the  propagation  of  a  vi- 
cious nature.  Wherefore  all  men  are  conceived  in 
sin,  and  are  born  children  of  "svrath ;  unfit  for  every 
good  connected  with  salvation ;  prone  to  evil,  dead  in 
sins,  and,  without  the  Holy  Spirit  regenerating  them, 
they  neither  icill  nor  can  return  to  God,  amend  their 
depraved  nature,  nor  dispose  themselves  fo7'  its  amend- 
menty 

Men  being  thus  terribly  incapacitated  for  right  ac- 
tion, so  that  they  have  no  power  "to  amend  their  de- 
praved nature,"  nor  even  "to  dispose  themselves  for 
its  amendment,"  the  whole  race  became  liable  not  only 
to  the  pains  and  penalties  of  sin  through  this  life,  but 
to  eternal  and  hopeless  misery  beyond  the  grave.  Nor 
could  any  one  of  the  race  do  a  single  thing  to  escape 
this  doom,  or  to  induce  the  Author  of  their  Being  to 


HISTORY   OF   THE   DOGMA.  299 

pity  or  help  them.  Instead  of  this,  a  certain  portion 
of  the  race  were  "  elected"  by  God  to  be  restored  to 
the  state  from  which  their  first  parents  fell  by  "the 
Holy  Spirit  regenerating  them,"  while  all  the  rest  were 
left  to  eternal  torments,  "to  illustrate  God's  justice 
and  hatred  of  sin ! "  Moreover,  wdioever  was  thus  elect- 
ed was  sure  to  "persevere."  These  tenets  are  usual- 
ly called  the  "  five  points  of  Calvinism,"  Viz.^original 
s'm,  total  depravity^  electioii^  Tegene7'ati07i^  and  saiiit^ 
jperseverance. 

Pelagius  denied  that  there  was  any  difference  be- 
tween the  mental  constitution  of  Adam  and  his  de- 
scendants, or  any  other  connection  between  his  and 
their  sins  than  always  exists  between  the  sins  of  chil- 
dren and  those  of  their  parents.  Of  course,  the  vitia- 
ted nature  imparted  directly  or  indirectly  by  God,  and 
the  tenets  based  on  it,  Avere  denied  by  him. 

At  this  period  all  matters  of  doctrine  were  settled 
by  ecclesiastical  councils.  The  first  council  on  this 
matter  was  in  Africa,  and,  led  by  Augustine,  they  con- 
demned the  views  of  Pelagius.  The  two  next  coun- 
cils were  in  Palestine,  and  both  sustained  his  teach- 
ings. Next,  in  Italy,  the  Pope,  then  at  the  early  pe- 
riod of  pontifical  power,  first  sustained  Pelagius,  but 
finally,  by  the  exertions  of  Augustine  and  his  party, 
was  led  to  condemn  him  with  the  greatest  severity. 
Finally,  the  emperors  were  enlisted  against  him  with 
their  civil  pains  and  penalties.  The  result  was,  Pela- 
gius and  his  followers  suffered  tlie  perils  and  miseries  of 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  persecution.  "And  thus,"  says 
the  historian,  "the  Gauls,  Britons,  and  Africans  by 
their  councils,  and  the  emperors  by  their  edicts,  demol- 


300  ADDENDA. 

ished  this  sect  in  its  infancy,  and  suppressed  it  en- 
tirely.*' 

It  is  very  probable  that,  if  Pelagius  had  had  the 
power  and  adroitness  of  Augustine,  the  edicts  of  em- 
perors and  decrees  of  councils  would  have  maintained 
his  views,  and  those  of  Augustine  would  have  gone 
into  obscurity.  But  ever  since  that  day  the  organized 
power  of  the  Latin,  Greek,  and  Protestant  churches 
have  been  arrayed  to  sustain  the  theories  thus  inaug- 
urated. 

But  the  common  sense  and  the  moral  nature  of  man 
have  maintained  a  feeble  but  ceaseless  warfare  against 
the  tenets  of  the  Augustinian  and  Calvinistic  creed, 
while  now  this  "  conflict  of  ages"  is  invigorated  by  the 
intervention  of  a  new  power.  The  authority  of  coun- 
cils, popes,  and  emperors  is  on  the  wane,  while  the 
jpeojple  are  fast  advancing  to  that  position  of  umpires 
in  the  moral  and  religious  world  which  they  have  gain- 
ed in  the  political. 

In  this  long  and  unequal  struggle,  the  principal  act- 
ors since  the  days  of  Pelagius  have  been,  in  the  first 
place,  A  nninius  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation.  While 
maintaining  the  foundation  dogma  of  a  depraved  men- 
tal constitution  consequent  upon  Adam's  sin,  he  strove 
to  give  some  slight  feature  of  humanity  and  tenderness 
to  the  consequent  system  by  maintaining  that  there 
was  some  way  in  which  man,  in  spite  of  his  ruined 
nature,  could  attain  some  right  feeling  and  action  ac- 
ceptable to  his  Creator,  and  tending  in  some  degree  to 
remedy  the  dreadful  calamity  inflicted  on  the  race. 

The  liistorian  thus  narrates  : 

"  After  the  appointment  of  Amiinius  to  the  theolog- 


HISTOEY   OF   THE   DOGMA.  301 

ical  chair  at  Leyden  (University),  he  thought  it  his  duty 
to  avow  and  vindicate  the  principles  which  he  had  em- 
braced, and  the  freedom  with  which  he  published  and 
defended  them  exposed  him  to  the  resentment  of  those 
that  adhered  to  the  theological  system  of  Geneva  (Cal- 
vinistic),  which  prevailed  in  Holland.  The  Arminian 
doctrines  gained  ground  under  the  mild  and  favorable 
treatment  of  the  magistrates  of  Holland,  and  were 
adopted  by  several  persons  of  merit  and  distinction. 
The  Calvinists  appealed  to  a  national  synod.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  Synod  of  Dort  was  convened  [by  the 
States-General],  and  was  composed  of  ecclesiastical 
deputies  from  the  United  Provinces,  as  well  as  from 
the  Reformed  churches  of  England,  Hessia,  Bremen, 
Switzerland,  and  the  Palatinate. 

"  It  was  first  proposed  to  discuss  the  principal  sub- 
jects in  dispute,  and  that  the  Arminians  should  be  al- 
lowed to  state  and  vindicate  the  grounds  on  which 
their  opinions  were  founded. 

"  But  some  difference  arising  as  to  the  proper  course 
of  conducting  the  debate,  the  Ar7ninians  were  ex- 
cluded from  the  assembly,  their  case  was  tried  in  their 
absence,  and  they  were  pronounced  guilty  of  pestilen- 
tial errors,  and  condemned  as  corrupters  of  the  true 
religion  ! 

"In  consequence  of  this  decision,  the  Arminians 
were  considered  as  enemies  to  their  country  and  its 
established  religion,  and  were  much  persecuted.  They 
were  treated  with  great  severity,  deprived  of  all  their 
posts  and  employments,  their  ministers  silenced,  and 
their  congregations  suppressed.  The  great  Barnevelt 
was  beheaded,  and  the  learned  Grotius  fled  and  took 
refuge  in  France." 


302  ADDENDA. 

Thus  it  is  seen  that,  while  Pelagius  and  his  follow- 
ers were  wasted  by  persecution  in  the  commencement 
of  the  Calvinistic  system  under  Augustine,  the  attempt 
to  soften  its  hard  features  by  Arminius  was  put  down 
by  the  same  method. 

But,  in  spite  of  all  such  opposition,  Arminianism 
gained  ground,  and  the  Arminian  and  Calvinistic  sys- 
tems have  existed  side  by  side  in  most  Protestant 
communions.  In  the  Church  of  England,  and  fonner- 
ly  in  the  Methodist  churches,  these  two  parties  have 
existed.  So  in  the  Presbyterian,  Congregational,  and 
Baptist  churches,  there  has  always  been  a  division  in 
reference  to  the  tenets  of  Calvinism,  some  holding 
them  strictly  according  to  Augustine  and  Calvin,  and 
others  more  or  less  modifying  their  sterner  features  by 
various  theories  and  expositions. 

The  main  point  of  difference  between  these  two 
classes  is  in  reference  to  that  most  disheartening  and 
deplorable  tenet  of  men's  entire  inability  to  "amend 
their  depraved  nature,"  or  even  to  "dispose  themselves 
for  its  amendment."  The  strict  Calvinist  maintains 
that  the  mind  of  man  is  so  entirely  ruined  in  its  na- 
ture that  no  one  but  the  Author  of  mind  can  rec- 
tify it,  while  he  can  in  no  way  be  moved  to  this  act  of 
mercy  (justice  ?)  by  any  thing  the  U7ireneived  creature 
can  do.  The  Arminian  sects  hold  that,  though  the 
"natural  man"  is  utterly  incapable  of  any  acceptable 
moral  action  in  himself,  yet,  through  the  atonement  of 
Jesus  Christ,  he  is  endowed  with  "  a  gracious  super- 
natural ability,"  by  which  he  can  accept  the  offers  of 
salvation.  This,  it  is  supposed,  is  a  statement  that 
most  Arminians  would  accept  as  expressing  their  views. 


HISTORY    OF   THE   DOGMA.  303 

In  our  own  country,  the  earliest  leader  of  an  attempt 
to  modify  the  Calvinistic  system  was  the  celebrated 
metaphysician,  Jonathan  Edwards.  While  maintain- 
ing, as  did  Arminius,  the  foundation  theory  of  an  ut- 
terly depraved  mental  constitution  of  the  race  as  a  pen- 
alty for  the  first  act  of  disobedience,  he  first  labored  to 
prove  this  penalty  to  be  just^  inasmuch  as  in  some 
mysterious  way  the  whole  race  existed  in  Adam,  and 
sinned  just  as  he  did,  thus  becoming  the  authors  of 
their  own  mental  ruin  and  incapacity. 

And  inasmuch  as  our  moral  nature  revolts  from  the 
infliction  of  penalties  for  not  doing  what  there  is  no 
power  to  do,  he  originated  a  metaphysical  theory  to 
tliis  eiiect :  that,  in  spite  of  the  injury  resulting  from 
this  first  sin  of  the  whole  race,  there  is  full  power  and 
obligation  in  every  human  being  to  obey  all  that  the 
laws  of  God  demanded,  but  that  man  is  unwilling  in- 
stead of  imahle.  This  unicillingness  is  the  result  of 
that  first  sin  of  the  race  ;  and  so  great  is  its  pertinacity, 
that  no  man  ever  did  or  ever  will  feel  or  act  right  in  a 
single  case,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  life,  until 
"regenerated  by  the  Holy  Spirit."  Xeither  will  they 
do  any  thing  "to  amend  their  depraved  nature,"  or  to 
"  dispose  themselves  to  its  amendment ;"  nor  will  any 
man,  before  "regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit,"  do  a 
single  thing  that  has  even  any  tendency  to  gain  this 
Divine  aid,  but  it  is  all  dependent  on  "  sovereign,  un- 
conditional election."  Still  worse,  the  more  efibrts  an 
unrenewed  man  makes  to  love  and  obey  God,  the  more 
wicked  he  grows,  because  he  is  voluntarily  resisting 
increased  light  and  obligation  in  refusing  to  regenerate 
himself,  which,  on  this  theory,  he  had  full  power  to  do. 


304  ADDENDA. 

As  it  respects  God,  this  theory,  indeed,  relieves  his 
character  very  essentially  ;  but  as  to  affording  any 
comfort  to  man,  it  only  adds  a  new  thorn  to  wound 
sensitive  consciences.  For  no  man  could  possibly  help 
feeling  that  when,  according  to  High  Calvinism,  he  had 
no  jpower  at  all  to  do  right,  he  was  relieved  from  some 
portion  of  obligation,  even  if,  six  thousand  years  ago, 
he  did  join  Adam  in  that  sinful  repast.  But  Presi- 
dent Edwards  and  his  followers  took  away  this  small 
alleviation,  and  put  the  whole  blame  entirely  on  the 
depraved  and  guilty  creature,  both  for  the  ruin  of  the 
fall  and  the  refusal  to  remedy  the  evil. 

This  attempt  to  prove  that  God  does  not  require 
men  to  perform  what  they  have  no  jpoicer  to  do,  has 
been  regarded  as  a  most  terrific  heresy  by  the  strict 
Calvinist,  while  for  nearly  a  hundred  years  New  En- 
gland and  the  whole  Presbyterian  Church  have  been 
agitated  by  it.  Again  and  again,  some  of  the  wisest 
and  best  of  their  clergy  have  been  arraigned  for  this 
heresy,  with  the  threatened  or  inflicted  penalty  of  loss 
of  character,  profession,  and  daily  bread  for  themselves 
and  their  families.  Three  times  the  author  has  seen 
a  revered  parent  thus  arraigned.  And  in  these  eccle- 
siastical trials,  she  has  herself  heard  otherwise  sensible 
persons  maintaining  that  men  were  required  by  their 
Maker  to  do  what  they  had  no  power  of  aiiy  kind  to 
do,  under  the  penalty  of  eternal  damnation,  and  that  it 
was  a  dangerous  heresy  to  maintain  that  God  did  not 
thus  require  it. 

Another  attempt  to  modify  the  Augustinian  dogma 
is  found  in  the  work  entitled  **  The  Conflict  of  Ages," 
by  the  Eev.  Edward  Beecher.     The  theory  there  pre- 


HISTOKY   OF   THE   DOGMA.  305 

sented  was  first  started  by  the  great  and  learned  Ori- 
gen  in  the  third  century,  and  has  been  advocated  by  in- 
dividuals ever  since.  It  assumes  the  entire  and  fatal  de- 
pravity of  the  mental  organization,  but  relieves  the  Cre- 
ator of  all  blame  by  assuming  that  every  human  mind 
was  created  with  a  perfect  mental  organization,  and 
placed  in  the  most  favorable  circumstances  possible  in 
2i,  jpre-exutent  state  ;  and  yet  the  same  sad  results  then 
occurred  as  our  race  are  approaching,  viz.,  the  existence 
of  two  classes  of  minds,  the  holy  and  the  sinful.  Mean- 
time this  world  was  prepared  as  a  merciful  arrangement 
to  afford  a  second  probation  to  those  who  ruined  them- 
selves in  the  pre-existent  state. 

This  theory  entirely  relieves  the  Creator  of  all  blame, 
but  gives  no  other  help  or  comfort  to  the  miserable  race 
of  man.  It  certainly  is  a  comfort  to  feel  that  our  Maker 
is  not  a  being  who  ruins  his  creatures  in  the  very  pro- 
cess of  creation,  and  then  exposes  them  to  eternal,  hope- 
less misery  as  the  consequence  of  it.  But  whoever 
believes  this  pre-existent  theory  takes  the  load  of  a 
guilty  conscience  for  all  he  considers  as  wrong  in  his 
own  mental  constitution,  and  for  all  the  dreadful  con- 
sequences. 

These  several  theories  all  were  originated  to  escape 
from  the  inevitable  deduction  of  reason,  that  God^  as 
the  author  of  a  depraved  constitution  of  mind,  is  him- 
self dejpraved. 

And  yet  neither  of  them  avails  but  one  of  the  two 
jore-existent  theories,  that  makes  man  himself  the  au- 
thor of  this  ruin  of  his  own  mind,  either  in  Adam  or 
before  Adam,  while  neither  of  these  is  supported  ei- 
ther by  reason  or  revelation. 


306  ADDENDA. 

Moreover,  neither  of  these  theories  coidd  be  estab- 
lished by  revelation  for  want  of  means  to  prove  a  rev- 
elation to  beings  who  find  themselves  endowed  with 
7nis€reated  minds,  as  has  been  shown  on  pages  287 
and  288  of  this  volume. 

Another  effort  to  change  the  hard  features  of  Calvin- 
ism was  by  the  New  Haven  school  of  theologians.  These 
gentlemen  maintained  that  a  holy  nature  and  a  sinful 
nature  were  not  what  could  be  created,  inasmuch  as 
all  sin  implies  a  knowledge  of  what  a  morally  right 
choice  is  and  power  to  make  such  a  choice,  while  it 
consists  not  at  all  in  a  wrong  nature  or  constitution, 
but  solely  in  lorong  voluntary  action. 

This  is  precisely  what,  as  the  author  supposes,  was 
the  doctrine  of  Pelagius  in  opposition  to  that  of  Au- 
gustine, and  for  the  propagation  of  which,  popes,  em- 
perors, and  councils  drove  Pelagius  and  his  followers 
firom  their  churches. 

A  similar  penalty  seemed  for  a  while  to  await  the 
New  Haven  innovators;  for,  as  professors  in  a  the- 
ological seminary  connected  with  the  most  influential 
university  in  the  nation,  their  doctrine  on  this  subject 
occasioned  a  controversy  that  agitated  all  the  New  En- 
gland as  well  as  the  Presbyterian  churches. 

At  the  same  time,  an  earnest  controversy  was  in  prog- 
ress with  the  Unitarian  sect,  which  had  adopted  this 
tenet  of  Pelagius  as  a  part  of  their  creed.  Of  course, 
the  charge,  both  of  Pelagianism  and  Unitarianism,  was 
rife  all  over  the  land  against  these  innovators  on  the 
established  creed  of  the  churches. 

To  meet  this,  the§e  gentlemen  maintained  that  they 
had  not  essentially  departed  from  the  system  of  New 


HISTORY  OF  THE   DOGMA.  307 

England  divinity  as  exhibited  in  the  writings  of  Pres- 
ident Edwards.  Thus  they  had  two  labors  to  per- 
form— the  one  to  maintain  the  doctrine  that  sin  con- 
sisted solely  in  wrong  action  and  not  at  all  in  nature^ 
and  the  other  to  show  that  in  this  they  did  not  differ 
from  Edwards. 

In  attempting  the  first,  at  one  time  and  another,  they 
have  maintained  that  mankind  since  the  fall  are  as 
truly  created  in  God's  image  as  Adam  was ;  that  the 
nature  of  man  is  still  like  the  nature  of  God ;  that  a 
corrupt,  depraved,  or  unholy  nature  can  not  be  affirm- 
ed of  the  human  mind  in  any  proper  use  of  these 
terms. 

The  inquiry,  then,  must  arise,  in  many  minds  that 
are  familiar  with  tlie  writings  of  President  Edwards, 
how  it  is  possible  that  men  so  intelligent  and  so  hon- 
est should  maintain  that  on  this  subject  they  had  not 
departed  from  the  system  of  New  England  divinity  as 
exhibited  by  Edwards. 

To  the  author  this  enigma  is  solved  by  the  charac- 
ter of  Edwards's  writings,  which,  like  those  of  many 
other  metaphysicians  who  hold  theories  contrary  to 
common  sense,  are  contradictory  and  inconsistent. 
Thus  it  is  seen  that  one  class  of  very  acute  minds  find 
in  Edwards's  Treatise  on  the  Will  the  most  complete 
exposition  and  defense  oi  fatalism,  and  thus  the  author 
regards  it.  Another  class,  equally  acute,  claim  this 
same  essay  as  a  full  exposition  and  defense  of  the  con- 
trary doctrine  oifree  agency. 

The  Augustinian  theory  of  a  totally  depraved  mind, 
transmitted  through  the  Catholic  Church  to  its  re- 
formed offsets,  was  received  by  Edwards.     He  per- 


308  ADDENDA. 

ceived  that  if  God  was  the  cause  of  this  depravity,  he 
is  the  author  of  sin,  and  so  he  labored  to  prove  that  all 
mankind  "sinned  in  Adam  and  fell  with  him,"  and 
thus  caused  their  own  depravity. 

He  perceived,  too,  that  requiring  men  to  originate 
holy  acts  with  a  totally  depraved  nature  seemed  to  de- 
mand what  they  had  no  power  to  perform,  and  thus 
made  God  unjust.  So  he  brought  forth  his  Treatise 
on  the  Will  to  prove  that  man  had  a  natural  ability 
to  obey  God,  and  a  vioral  viability  ;  and  so  at  once 
he  established  ya^aZ^57?^  to  one  class  of  minds,  andy^^g 
agency  to  another. 

Thus  it  is  that  the  New  Haven  divines  find  lan- 
guage in  Edwards  that  sustains  their  views,  while  their 
antagonists  find  as  much,  or  more,  that  condemns  them. 

The  ancient  followers  of  Pelagius,  the  modern  Uni- 
tarians, and  the  leaders  of  the  New  Haven  school  of 
divines,  all  hold  exactly  the  position  set  forth  in  this 
work  of  the  ^;>er/*^C2J  organization  of  the  human  mind, 
while  the  only  depravity  maintained  by  them  is  that 
of  voluntary  action.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  believed 
that  but  a  very  small  portion  of  the  younger  clergy  of 
any  theological  school  in  New  England,  or  in  a  large 
portion  of  the  Presbyterian  churches,  would  openly 
avow  a  belief  in  the  depraved  mental  constitution  of 
man  as  created  by  God,  either  directly  at  or  near  birth, 
or  indirectly  by  hereditary  transmission. 

It  is  interesting,  yet  sad,  to  trace  the  dominant  influ- 
ence of  the  Augustinian  theory  of  a  dej)l\aved  mental 
constitution  in  originating  most  of  the  leading  sects  of 
the  present  Christian  world. 

Man  being  assumed  to  be  thus  miserably  miscreat- 


HISTORY  OP  THE   DOGMA.  309 

ed,  and  his  sole  hope  being  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
to  recreate,  the  priesthood  soon  claimed  to  be  the  only 
medium  through  which  this  gift  could  pass ;  and  hav- 
ing the  eternal  life  and  death  of  the  soul  in  their  hands, 
they  speedily  thus  gained  that  domestic,  civil,  and  re- 
ligious power  which  made  the  papal  hierarchy  the 
most  tremendous  tyranny  that  earth  ever  witnessed. 

The  question  of  the  transmission  of  this  power 
through  properly  ordained  persons  was  the  chief  fea- 
ture of  the  Episcopal  organization. 

Most  of  the  other  large  sects  in  this  country  are  de- 
scended from  the  Puritans,  who,  as  it  appears,  were 
the  first  to  institute  "a  church"  as  consisting  solely 
of  persons  who  "profess"  to  be  "regenerated"  on  the 
theory  of  the  renewal  of  a  misfonned  or  depraved  mind. 

The  Greek,  Eoman,  Episcopal,  Scotch,  and  Europe- 
an Protestants  recognize  no  such  organization,  all  be- 
ing born  into  the  Church;  and  this  seems  to  have 
been  the  case  in  the  first  churches  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, where  parents  and  their  families^  and  all  who 
joined  their  communities,  were  considered  as  consti- 
tuting the  Christian  Church,  whether  "  regenerated"  or 
not.*  So,  in  the  Jewish  Church,  all  who  submitted  to 
the  initiatory  rite  were  members,  without  respect  to 
religious  attainments  in  character.  This  new  princi- 
ple of  organization,  originating  with  the  Puritans,  is  re- 
tained among  most  sects  in  this  nation,  and  is  the  foun- 
dation of  their  separate  organizations. 

Thus  the  Baptists  are  separated  on  the  question  of 

*  The  word  "  church"  in  the  New  Testament,  in  the  Greek,  sig- 
nifies "  assembly"  or  "congregation,"  and  not  an  organization  of  re- 
generate persons. 


310  .  ADDENDA. 

the  mode  of  administering  the  rite  of  admission  to 
this  Church. 

The  Presbyterians  and  Congi*egationalists  separate 
on  the  question  of  apj^ointing  the  officers  of  this  or- 
ganization. 

The  Methodists  are  an  offset  from  the  Episcopal 
Church,  with  reference  chiefly  to  modes  of  bringing 
men  into  their  Church. 

All  agree  that  it  is  "  regenerate  persons"  alone  who 
are  fully  members  of  this  organization. 

There  are  diversities  of  opinion  as  to  the  relation  of 
baptized  children  to  this  body,  but  none  allow  them  to 
be  admitted  to  its  distinctive  ordinance  except  they 
profess  to  be  "  regenerated." 

It  is  a  matter  for  interesting  conjecture  as  to  the 
probable  results  on  Christendom  had  the  theory  of 
Pelagius  been  established  by  pope,  emperor,  and  coun- 
cils instead  of  that  of  Augustine. 

In  that  case  we  may  suppose  that  the  efforts  and  ener- 
gies of  the  churches,  instead  of  to  these  rites  and  forms, 
would  have  been  mainly  directed  to  the  right  training 
of  the  human  mind  in  obedience  to  all  the  physical, 
domestic,  social,  and  moral  laws  of  the  Creator. 

Instead  of  instituting  two  standards  of  right  and 
wrong,  the  "common"  and  the  "evangelical,"  as  is 
now  so  generally  done,  children  would  have  been  taught 
that  all  that  was  just,  honorable,  benevolent,  and  love- 
ly in  their  feelings  and  conduct  was  as  acceptable  and 
right  to  God  as  it  is  to  men.  Their  parents,  instead 
of  that  sense  of  helpless  inability  resulting  from  the 
belief  that  their  little  ones  could  feel  and  do  notliing 
but  sin  until  new  mental  powers  were  given,  and  that 


HISTOEY  OF  THE   DOGMA.  311 

the  gift  was  bestowed  Ibj  the  rule  of  sovereign  "  elec- 
tion," would  have  felt  that  every  successful  effort  to 
cultivate  all  lovely  and  right  habits  and  feelings  was 
advancing  their  offspring  nearer  to  God  and  their  heav- 
enly home,  and  that,  when  their  wisdom  failed,  the 
promise  of  "  the  Comforter"  was  given  to  encourage 
them  in  this  great  work. 

Thus  they  would  expect  their  children  to  become 
"  new  creatures  in  Christ  Jesus"  by  the  combined  in- 
fluence of  the  heavenly  and  earthly  parents  gradually 
transforming  their  ignorance  and  selfishness  to  knowl- 
edge and  benevolence. 

That  the  theory  of  Augustine,  originally  established 
in  the  Clu'istian  churches  by  pains  and  penalties,  is 
still  sustained  there  by  such  influences,  is  apparent 
from  these  facts. 

Although  there  is  a  large  amount  of  real  virtue  and 
piety  that  is  not  within  the  pale  of  any  sectarian  or- 
ganization, yet  the  vast  majority  of  conscientious  per- 
sons are  either  enrolled  in  the  Churchy  or  intimately 
connected  with  it  in  principle  and  feeling.  All  this  in- 
tellectual and  moral  power  is  organized  into  various 
denominations,  each  controlled  and  led  by  a  number  of 
highly-educated,  conscientious,  and  religious  men. 

With  these  denominations  are  connected  high  posi- 
tions in  the  pulpit,  with  great  influence  and  liberal  sala- 
ries ;  literary  institutions,  with  posts  of  honor  and  com- 
petency ;  and  theological  seminaries  that  are  the  central 
ecclesiastical  mainsprings  of  influence. 

Then  there  are  connected  with  each  denomination 
large  voluntary  associations  for  benevolent  purposes, 
with  officers  who  control  large  pecuniary  means.     Fi- 


312  ADDENDA. 

nally,  eacli  sect  has  its  quarterlies,  montlilies,  and  its 
religious  newspapers,  whose  editors  are  speaking  every 
day  to  the  minds  of  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands. 

Now  it  is  a  fact  that  this  vast  array  of  wealth,  posi- 
tion, influence,  and  ecclesiastical  power  is  actually  com- 
bined to  sustain  these  theological  theories.  So  much 
is  this  the  case,  that  a  minister,  theological  professor, 
president  of  a  college,  secretary  of  a  benevolent  society, 
or  editor  of  a  periodical  or  newspaper,  could  not  open- 
ly deny  this  Augustinian  tenet  but  under  penalty  of 
the  loss  of  reputation,  position,  influence,  and  the  in- 
come that  sustains  himself  and  family.  Our  largest 
and  best  theological  seminaries  demand  an  avowal  of 
belief  in  this  dogma  as  a  condition  of  holding  any  pro- 
fessorship, and  in  some  of  them  it  must  be  renewed  by 
all  the  professors  every  few  years. 

At  the  same  time,  this  dogma  of  a  depraved  mental 
constitution  transmitted  from  Adam  is  inwrought  into 
all  the  standard  works  of  theology,  the  sermons,  the 
prayers,  the  sacred  poetry,  the  popular  literatui'e,  and 
even  the  Sunday-school  and  family  literature  of  cliild- 
hood. 

The  power  of  such  influences  is  intensified  by  the 
present  stringency  of  sectarian  organization.  By  those 
who  have  marked  the  tendencies  of  the  religious 
world,  it  will  be  remembered  that,  at  the  time  the  asso- 
ciations for  religious  benevolence  began  their  gi*eat 
work,  all  sects  seemed  to  be  harmonizing  and  uniting 
in  the  efforts  to  send  Bibles,  tracts,  and  missionaries  to 
the  destitute.  At  this  period,  the  questions  that  sep- 
arated Christians  in  reference  to  modes  of  ordination, 


HISTORY   OF   THE   DOGIHA.  313 

baptism,  and  churcli  officers,  seemed  to  disappear  as 
matters  of  small  moment  among  all  whose  great  aim 
was  to  save  the  lost  of  every  name  and  nation. 

But,  while  this  served  to  liberalize  the  feelings  and 
opinions  of  good  men  in  all  sects,  it  soon  became  ap- 
parent to  the  leaders  that,  if  these  tendencies  were  not 
counteracted,  the  sects  would  all  come  together. 

If  this  should  happen,  where  Avould  be  all  the  great 
machinery  that  was  supported  by  these  several  denom- 
inations for  their  distinctive  aims  ? 

Soon  the  tide  turned,  and,  though  now  there  is  less 
sectarian  bitterness,  and  most  sects  can  allow  each  oth- 
er to  be  Christians  with  different  names  and  badges, 
yet  each  is  active  for  its  own  separate  interests  more 
decidedly  than  ever.  And  now  the  leading  concern 
of  each  denomination  seems  to  be,  to  increase  its  own 
separate  churches,  schools,  colleges,  theological  sem- 
inaries, religious  periodicals,  and  benevolent  associa- 
tions, not  because  the  salvation  of  the  lost  depends  on 
these  distinctive  matters,  but  chiefly  as  modes  of  in- 
creasing the  extent^  7'espectability^  d^ndi  influence  of  their 
sect.  In  order  to  do  this,  the  importance  of  the  points 
which  divide  each  from  the  other  must  be  magnified ; 
for  if  there  is  but  a  trifling  difference  between  an  Old 
School  and  New  School  Church,  or  a  Baptist,  Congre- 
gational, or  a  Presbyterian,  then,  in  small  places,  and 
especially  in  our  new  settlements,  all  these  would  unite 
in  one  large,  harmonious  church,  that  could  properly 
support  all  its  own  ordinances,  and  send  of  its  surplus 
to  supply  the  destitute.  On  the  contrary,  if  these  dif- 
ferences are  magnified,  there  will  be  two,  three,  or  four 
small  churches,  all  contending  with  each  other,  poorly 

0 


314  ADDENDA. 

supporting  their  own  ordinances,  and,  instead  of  help- 
ing the  destitute,  sending  to  other  churches  of  then: 
own  sect  for  help. 

Thus  it  is  that  we  see  vast  sums  raised  every  year 
to  multiply  these  needless,  weak,  and  militant  churches 
all  over  the  land.  There  are  facts  on  this  subject  that 
should  be  deeply  pondered.* 

So  in  regard  to  education  ;  although  intelligence  has 
diminished  the  acerbity  of  sectarianism,  it  has  led  to 
a  higher  appreciation  of  educational  institutions  as  an 
element  of  sectarian  influence  and  respectability. 
From  this  has  come  the  struggle  to  multiply  colleges 
and  female  seminaries  in  each  of  the  several  denomi- 
nations. Each  is  now  acting  as  a  sect  in  starting  new 
institutions  all  over  the  land,  that  demand  immense  in- 
vestments for  buildings,  apparatus,  and  endowments, 
and  this  without  reference  to  the  actual  wants  of  the 
community.  For  example,  in  Indiana,  where  the  low 
state  of  common  school  education  makes  such  institu- 
tions least  patronized,  there  are  eleven  endowed  institu- 
tions, with  an  aggregate  income  from  these  endowments 
of  $14,000^^r  anniim^  besides  tuition.  In  Ohio  there 
are  twenty-six  colleges  and  professional  schools,  with 
an  annual  income  from  endowments  of  $25,000;  and 
yet,  as  appears  in  the  public  prints,  $100,000  has  been 
subscribed  in  one  city  in  this  same  state  to  start  an- 
other college  for  the  Old  School  Presbyterians,  who 
are  expected  to  raise  as  much  more  among  that  sect. 
Besides  endowments  to  support  teachers,  vast  sums  are 
expended  in  buildings,  some  of  which  are  standing 
unused  for  the  purpose  for  which  the  money  to  build 
♦  See  Note  C. 


HISTORY   OF  THE   DOGMA.  315 

them  was  given.  This  is  a  fair  specimen  of  what  is 
transpiring  in  most  of  the  other  states  in  raising  new 
institutions  or  increasing  the  funds  of  those  abeady 
started.  In  this  way,  two,  three,  and  four  colleges  are 
often  found  as  competitors  in  a  section  that  could 
properly  patronize  scarcely  one. 

After  each  sect  has  thus  reared  an  institution,  it 
must  then  struggle  to  find  pupils,  and  thus  multitudes 
of  young  boys,  who  are  to  go  into  future  pursuits  where 
such  knowledge  will  be  of  little  or  no  service,  are 
pressed  into  a  Latin  and  Greek  course,  which  probably 
the  larger  portion  of  them  forsake  before  it  is  com- 
pleted, with  little  knowledge  of  ancient  literature,  and 
far  less  of  their  own  mother  tongue.  The  waste  of 
educational  benefactions  in  this  way  is  little  realized, 
while  the  effect  of  congregating  the  young  in  boarding- 
school  life,  away  from  home  and  parental  influence,  is 
most  disastrous. 

How  can  it  be  otherwise?  To  take  the  unformed 
youth  at  the  most  excitable  period  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tem, at  the  point  where  temptations  are  strongest,  and 
habits  of  self-control  the  weakest,  away  from  mothers, 
sisters,  and  home  influences ;  herd  them  promiscuously 
with  good  and  bad;  stimulate  the  brain  to  excess; 
end  all  the  healthful  domestic  exercise,  and  what  could 
be  expected  but  just  such  wrecks  of  health,  morals, 
home  habits,  and  all  that  is  good  and  pure,  as  is  con- 
stantly going  on  in  such  institutions  ? 

If  parents  could  hear  the  details  that  have  come 
from  mothers  and  their  young  sons  of  the  experiences 
of  boarding-school  and  college  life  all  over  the  land, 
especially  in  reference  to  that  most  contaminating  and 


316  ADDENDA. 

horrible  literature  and  prints  that  no  care  can  exclude, 
they  would  understand  only  a  small  part  of  the  evils 
included  in  such  institutions  for  the  young. 

Not  only  colleges,  but  female  seminaries,  and  even 
private  schools,  are  becoming  more  and  more  sectarian, 
as  especially  patronized  by  some  one  denomination, 
and  relying  on  this  for  success. 

All  this  sectarian  influence  in  education  is,  in  fact, 
operating  to  sustain  the  Augustinian  theories  hy  the 
jpains  and  2:)enalties  that  first  enforced  them ;  for  no 
teacher  of  a  school,  or  college,  or  female  seminary 
could  avow  a  dissent  from  theories  so  powerfully  sus- 
tained, without  subjecting  himself,  his  institution,  and 
his  sect  to  attacks  from  other  sects  and  institutions,  as 
one  mode  of  supplanting  a  rival. 

It  was  this  powerful  array  of  antagonistic  influences 
that  for  years  withheld  the  author  from  any  public  ex- 
pression of  some  of  the  views  set  forth  in  this  work. 

It  has  been  stated  in  the  introduction  that,  while 
teaching  mental  science,  in  connection  with  the  Bible, 
to  highly  gifted  minds,  an  octavo  volume  was  printed, 
but  not  published,  which  embraced  the  leading  features 
of  this  work.  In  that,  the  principles  of  reason  and  in- 
terpretation were  not  applied  to  the  theories  of  a  de- 
praved mental  constitution,  which  at  that  time  were 
not,  to  her  own  mind,  satisfactorily  solved,  but  to 
theories  on  the  character  and  atoning  sacrifice  of  Je- 
sus Christ,  where  relief  was  first  experienced  by  the 
writer. 

On  taking  advice  as  to  the  publication  of  such  a 
work,  it  became  clear  that  it  would  probably  result  in 
such  powerful  theological  influences  as  would  end  a 


HISTORY   OF   THE   DOGMA.  317 

connection  with  a  public  institution,  and  all  labors  as 
a  teacher. 

In  obedience  to  the  counsel  of  friends,  it  was  con- 
cluded to  go  quietly  on  as  an  educator,  and  work  out 
practically  all  that  could  be  done  without  innovating 
on  accepted  opinions,  and  wait  till  time  and  circum- 
stances should  afford  more  maturity  and  completeness 
to  the  writer's  own  views ;  for  it  was  soon  perceived 
that  no  one  ever  objected  to  having  children  trained 
exactly  according  to  the  author's  present  views,  pro- 
vided nothing  was  said  against  the  accepted  theolog- 
ical theories.  So  faithfully  has  this  method  been  pur- 
sued, that  it  is  probable  that  there  is  not  an  individ- 
ual with  whom  the  writer  has  been  associated  as  an 
educator,  who  will  not,  for  the  first  time,  learn  her 
views  on  the  Augustinian  and  Calvinistic  theories  from 
this  work ;  while,  even  in  her  own  family  circle,  though 
opinions  have  been  expressed  freely,  all  discussions  on 
this  subject  have  been  avoided. 

In  pursuing  the  course  of  a  practical  educator,  the 
first  years  were  spent  mainly  in  the  intellectual  depart- 
ment, at  the  period  when  the  "higher  branches"  first 
began  to  enter  as  a  part  of  female  culture.  Surround- 
ed by  some  of  the  most  gifted  female  minds  in  the 
country  as  both  teachers  and  pupils,  and  all  excited  by 
the  interest  of  pioneers  in  the  effort  to  elevate  the 
standard  of  female  education,  there  resulted  such  an 
amount  of  intellectual  activity  and  enthusiasm  as  has 
never  been  witnessed  by  the  author  before  or  since. 

Ignorant  of  the  laws  of  health,  and  unaware  of 
any  danger  from  excess,  the  result  was  such  entire 
and  irretrievable  prostration  of  the  nervous  system 


318  ADDENDA. 

as  forbade  forever  any  farther  labor  as  a  practical 
teacher. 

Extensive  journeyings  to  restore  health  among  a 
widely-dispersed  family  connection  led  to  frequent  re- 
unions with  former  pupils.  Thence  resulted  a  deep 
conviction  of  the  necessity  of  training  the  domestic 
habits  and  tastes  of  young  girls  as  had  never  yet  been 
attempted,  and  of  the  extreme  suffering  and  ill  health 
consequent  on  the  neglect  of  it  as  a  part  of  school  ed- 
ucation. This  led  to  two  works  on  Domestic  Economy, 
one  of  which  was  designed  as  a  text-book  for  girls  at 
school,  and  the  other  for  their  use  after  they  became 
housekeepers. 

Continued  ill  health,  inducing  frequent  resort  to 
health  establishments,  where  invalids  from  all  classes 
were  congregated,  increased  the  conviction  that  modes 
of  education  and  other  causes  were  fatally  undermin- 
ing national  health,  especially  that  of  women.  Thus 
originated  a  work  on  Health,  and  another  on  Physiol- 
ogy and  Physical  Training. 

Incapacitated  from  labor  as  a  teacher,  the  only  field 
of  effort  to  the  author  was  in  more  general  efforts  to 
interest  her  own  sex  to  enlarged  and  organized  efforts 
to  secure  the  proper  training  of  woman  for  her  distinct- 
ive duties,  and  also  to  provide  envployment  for  her  in 
her  appropriate  profession. 

Two  small  works  addressed  to  American  women  on 
this  subject  were  issued  by  her,  and  two  organizations 
were  the  result :  one  conducted  by  ladies  in  Boston, 
and  one  by  Governor  Slade  as  General  Agent  of  the 
Board  of  National  Popular  Education. 

As  both  of  these  restricted  their  efforts  mainly  to 


HISTORY   OF  THE  DOGMA.  319 

providing  employment  for  teachers  already  educated, 
the  next  attempt  was  to  secure  an  organization  to  pre- 
pare woman  for  her  distinctive  duties  on  a  more  com- 
plete and  comprehensive  scale. 

In  this  attempt,  it  was  perceived  that  the  other  sex 
have  always  secured  proper  attention  to  any  particular 
department  of  education  by  endowments  to  sujpport 
highly-educated  teachers  to  give  their  lohole  time  to 
that  object.  Thus  chemistry,  agriculture,  and  the  prac- 
tical sciences  are  made  honorable,  and  are  insured  as 
branches  of  liberal  instruction.  The  question  then 
arose,  Why  should  not  this  method  be  taken  to  make 
woman's  distinctive  profession  honorable,  and  to  se- 
cure a  proper  training  for  it  ? 

The  business  of  a  woman  is  divided  into  three  as  dis- 
tinct departments  as  the  liberal  professions  of  law,  med- 
icine, and  divinity  for  men,  which  are  so  honored  and 
endowed.  Nor  are  they  less  important  or  universal. 
For,  in  the  first  place,  woman  is  to  train  the  human 
mind  at  just  that  period  when  principles,  tastes,  and 
habits  are  most  firmly  fixed ;  next,  she  has  the  care  of 
the  human  body  all  through  its  period  of  development, 
when  the  physical  habits  are  formed,  and  also  in  peri- 
ods of  sickness  for  all  ages.  Lastly,  she  has  charge 
of  the  whole  circle  of  domestic  economy,  and  of  all  the 
home  interests  of  the  family  state.  Educator,  nurse, 
and  housekeeper,  these  three  departments  are  not  less 
in  importance  than  law,  medicine,  and  divinity. 

The  leading  feature,  then,  in  this  attempt  was  to  se- 
cure an  organization  of  American  women,  who  should 
aim  to  establish  model  institutions  for  woman,  that 
should  prepare  her  thoroughly  and  ^properly  for  the 


320  ADDENDA. 

three  distinctive  employments  of  her  profession,  by 
means  of  endowments  to  support  highly-educated  teach- 
ers for  this  express  object.  In  all  other  female  insti- 
tutions, the  training  of  the  intellect  has  been  the  lead- 
ing object ;  in  these,  the  preparation  of  woman  for  her 
distinctive  duties  was  to  be  the  leading  object. 

To  the  common  remark  that  the  mothers  must  do 
this  at  home,  it  is  replied,  in  the  first  place,  that  the 
mothers,  to  a  great  extent — as  the  general  rule,  having 
but  few  exceptions — are  not  qualified  to  do  this ;  and, 
next,  if  they  were,  they  have  not  the  health,  or  they  have 
not  the  time,  or  they  have  not  the  will  to  do  so.  When 
men  wish  to  perfect  and  honor  any  profession,  they  pro- 
vide endowments  to  sustain  teachers  of  the  highest  or- 
der. Thus,  for  example,  though  it  may  be  said  that 
farmers  can  best  train  their  sons  for  their  own  profes- 
sion, still  agricultural  professorships  in  our  colleges, 
and  teachers  sustained  by  endowments,  are  found  to 
be  indispensable  to  honor  and  raise  that  pursuit  to  a 
science  and  2,  profession. 

While  the  young  women  of  the  nation  see  every 
thing  else  more  honored  and  provided  for  than  the 
very  profession  and  future  business  of  their  lives,  they 
will  grow  up  to  neglect  and  despise  such  duties. 

The  education  of  woman,  to  be  what  Heaven  design- 
ed for  the  race,  should  unite  the  home  training  of  the 
parents  with  the  school  training  of  the  teacher.  In- 
stead of  taking  young  girls  from  all  domestic  interests 
and  pursuits,  and  turning  all  the  energies  of  their  ner- 
vous system  into  the  intellectual  department  of  the 
brain,  there  should  be  an  equable  and  healthful  train- 
ing, at  once,  of  the  bodily  powers,  the  social  and  do- 


HISTORY   OF   THE    DOGIMA.  321 

mestic  habits,  the  intellect,  and  the  moral  nature ;  and 
in  effecting  this,  the  parents  and  the  teachers  should 
work  together  harmoniously.  It  is  in  reference  to  this 
that  the  tendency  of  this  age  and  country  to  conduct 
the  education  of  the  higher  and  middling  classes  in 
hoarding-schools  instead  of  at  home  is  most  disastrous. 
Boarding-schools  should  be  the  exceptions  to  meet  the 
wants  of  a  sparse  population.  Instead  of  this,  the 
country  sends  its  daughters  to  city  boarding-schools, 
and  the  city  sends  to  country  boarding-schools,  and  so 
home  education  is  becoming  more  and  more  neglected. 

The  consequences  to  the  health,  happiness,  and  mor- 
al interests  of  woman  are  more  and  more  disastrous. 

In  reference  to  this,  the  efforts  of  the  above  associ- 
ation have  been  confined  to  establishing  what  it  is 
hoped  would  become  model  institutions  in  the  centres 
of  influence  of  the  states  where  they  were  located,  in 
which  the  funds  should  7iot  be  spent  in  providing  great 
buildings  to  take  children  away  from  all  home  influ- 
ences and  domestic  pursuits,  but  rather  in  providing 
such  teachers  and  influences  as  would  have  a  direct 
bearing  on  the  homes  of  the  pupils,  and  aid  the  par- 
ents in  cultivating  ho7ne  habits,  home  virtues,  and 
ho^ne  tastes  and  j)u?'suits. 

This  brief  history  of  the  writer's  efforts  is  given  be- 
cause its  results  will  now  be  seen  to  form  a  part  of  the 
"  history  of  the  dogma"  which  is  the  subject  of  this 
section. 

For,  during  the  whole  period  of  these  efforts  to  pro- 
mote the  right  traviing  of  the  human  onind  by  loom- 
an  as  the  Heaven-ajpjpointed  Tninister  for  this  end, 
the  influence  of  this  dogma  has  been  constantly  forced 
02 


322  ADDENDA. 

on  attention  as  the  real  antagonistic  force.  That  is 
to  say,  the  whole  energies  of  the  Christian  Church,  in 
its  distinctive  character,  are  organized  to  remedy  the 
evil  after  the  nnincl  is  educated  wrong^  while  little  is 
attempted  by  the  powerful  agency  of  orgayxization  to 
secure  its  right  education.  In  proof  of  this,  it  will  be 
seen  that  all  the  great  benevolent  organizations  for 
which  collections  are  enforced  from  the  pulpit  are  for 
adults,  with  one  only  seeming  exception.  There  is  an 
organization  to  send  Bibles,  another  to  send  tracts  and 
colporteurs,  another  to  send  missionaries  abroad,  an- 
other to  send  home-missionaries,  another  for  the  sail- 
or, another  for  the  slaves,  another  to  educate  ministers, 
another  to  raise  up  colleges,  another  for  temperance, 
and  so  on.  All  these  have  as  their  direct  aim  those 
who  are  educated  wrong,  and  are  to  be  redeemed  from 
sinful  habits.  Not  one  has  any  direct  reference  to  the 
formation  of  right  habits  in  the  daily  training  of  ev~ 
ery-daTj  life. 

The  Sunday-school  is  the  only  seeming  exception. 
But  this  is  only  a  weekly  exercise  of  an  hour  or  two, 
in  which  every  sect  secures  the  training  of  its  chil- 
dren in  its  own  religious  system,  while  this  system, 
in  most  cases,  is  based  on  the  Augustinian  doctrine  of 
the  inability  of  children  to  feel  or  do  a  single  right 
thing  till  they  are  "regenerated,"  while  not  only  the 
teaching,  but  the  Sunday  libraries  for  children  all  en- 
force this  dogma.  The  practical  influence  of  this, 
though  counteracted  more  or  less  by  other  influences, 
is  fairly  illustrated  in  the  mental  history  of  the  author 
in  the  Introduction. 

Thus  the  Christian  Church  has  all  its  organizations 


HISTORY   OF   THE   DOGMA.  323 

to  cure  diseased  and  miseducated  mind,  and  not  a  sin- 
gle one  to  prevent  this  ruin  by  its  rigiit  training. 

This  being  so,  this  effort  to  promote  the  neglected 
and  yet  great  end  of  Christian  effort  has  been  looked 
on  with  indifference,  or  as  a  small  concern  to  receive 
its  mite,  while  all  others  are  to  receive  their  hundreds 
and  thousands. 

Moreover,  the  enterprise  has  been  looked  upon  with 
jealousy  by  many  whose  attention  has  been  called  to 
it  as  a  covert  sectarian  movement  to  promote  the  in- 
terests of  that  denomination  with  which  some  of  its 
movers  have  been  connected.  Then,  too,  because  it 
really  has  not  favored  any  one  sect,  it  has  secured  the 
special  favor  and  sympathy  of  none.  There  has  never 
been  a  time  when  its  movers  have  not  been  made  to  un- 
derstand that  success  in  raising  endowments  would  be 
certain  if  the  anti-sectarian  feature  could  be  relinquish- 
ed, and  the  enterprise  could  assume  a  sectarian  banner. 

The  most  influential  clergy  of  the  large  sects  are 
engaged  in  denominational  enterprises,  to  found  col- 
leges or  theological  seminaries,  or  to  establish  book 
or  newspaper  agencies  devoted  to  the  interests  of  their 
sect.  The  great  body  of  laymen  who  have  wealth  to 
bestow  in  large  sums  are  more  or  less  influenced  by 
their  clergymen,  either  as  personal  friends  or  as  spir- 
itual advisers.  Especially  is  this  true  of  the  few  be- 
nevolent ladies  who  have  such  independent  means  as 
to  be  able  to  furnish  endowments. 

And  thus  it  has  come  to  pass  that  this  first  attempt 
yet  known  to  organize  Christians  as  Christians,  to 
train  woman  for  her  great  work  of  forming  the  phys- 
ical, social,  domestic,  and  moral  habits  of  childhood  by 


324  ADDENDA. 

methods  deemed  indispensable  by  man  for  his  profes- 
sions, is  on  the  verge  of  failure,  after  four  years  of  trial. 
And  this  is  not  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  motives,  or 
the  plan,  or  the  conductors  of  it  have  been  extensively 
distrusted,  or  in  any  particular  disapproved.  On  the 
contrary,  the  leading  clergymen  of  most  of  the  Prot- 
estant sects  have  given  their  unqualified  approval, 
while  the  Board  of  Managers  embraces  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  most  distinguished  female  educators  and 
authoresses,  with  some  of  the  most  distinguished  bus- 
iness men  and  financiers  of  our  land.  At  the  same 
time,  the  agents  and  educators  who  have  performed 
for  four  years  the  details  of  the  enterprise  have  secured 
the  entire  approval  and  confidence  of  the  public  as  to 
their  qualifications. 

The  real  difficulty  at  the  root  of  all  is  the  indifier- 
ence  to  the  training  of  the  habits  of  childhood,  result- 
ing from  the  long-established  dogma  of  a  misformed 
mind,  whose  propagated  incapacity  is  not  within  the 
reach  of  educational  training.  ^Meantime,  the  chief  en- 
ergies of  the  Christian  Church  are  now  tending  to  the 
extending  of  sectarian  organizations,  based  on  pecul- 
iarities as  to  baptism,  ordination,  and  church  officers, 
which  no  intelligent  person  believes  are  either  indis- 
pensable to  salvation,  or  even  so  important  as  to  be 
subjects  of  direct  Divine  commands. 

It  is  this  view  of  the  subject  that  has  at  last  brought 
the  author  to  relinquisli  any  farther  practical  education- 
al efforts,  and  now  to  attempt  whatever  may  be  in  her 
power  in  directing  public  attention  to  what  seems  to 
be  one  grand  impediment  in  the  Christian  world  to  the 
right  traiiiir.g  and  development  of  the  human  race. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   DOGMA.  325 

In  presenting  this  work  to  the  special  attention  of 
the  laity,  the  author  does  not  intend  to  imply  that  the- 
ologians are  not  to  take  the  lead  in  all  discussions  and 
investigations  that  are  to  guide  and  enlighten  mankind 
in  their  special  department. 

The  aim  is  rather  to  lessen  the  general  impression 
that  the  whole  matter  is  to  be  left  exclusively  to  them  ; 
that  it  is  a  professional  concern,  in  which  a  layman  is 
to  resign  his  own  judgment  as  he  does  to  his  physician 
or  lawyer.  Instead  of  this,  there  are  some  reasons 
why  the  laity  have  superior  advantages  to  the  clergy 
in  cases  where  long-accepted  theological  errors  are  to 
be  eradicated. 

In  the  first  place,  they  are  free  from  the  strong  influ- 
ence of  a  system  into  which  the  mind  has  been  edu- 
cated. The  power  of  a  system  over  men  who  are 
trained  to  reason,  and  who  reason  on  that  subject 
which  involves  all  the  greatest  interests  of  existence 
both  for  time  and  eternity,  is  most  insidious  and  in- 
calculable. To  this  is  added  the  reverence,  love,  and 
veneration  felt  by  pious  persons  for  those  great  and 
good  men  who,  like  Augustine,  Calvin,  and  Jonathan 
Edwards,  have  been  the  revered  masters  of  theological 
systems  for  ages.  Under  these  two  influences,  every 
new  opinion  is  compared  with  a  system^  and  when  it  is 
seen  to  be  inconsistent  with  it,  all  the  veneration  at- 
tached, both  to  that  and  to  its  authors  and  advocates, 
stands  opposed  to  any  innovation. 

The  powerful  influence  of  educational  training,  and 
of  love  and  rcA^erence  to  a  revered  parent,  has  taught 
the  author  to  understand  and  sympathize  with  other 
minds  similarly  influenced. 


326  ADDENDA. 

From  all  such  biasing  influences  the  laity  are  far 
more  free  than  their  clerical  guides. 

Add  to  this  the  fact  that  the  '*  pains  and  penalties" 
attached  to  all  change  in  theological  opinions  have 
very  little  reach  among  the  laity.  Any  layman,  if  he 
adopts  new  views,  can  quietly  withdraw  from  one  re- 
ligious communion  and  join  another  more  congenial,  or 
remain  unconnected  with  any,  while  no  man  can  call 
him  to  an  account.  But  men  connected  with  parish- 
es, colleges,  and  all  educational  institutions,  are  sub- 
ject to  the  supervision  of  councils,  presbyteries,  syn- 
ods, and  many  other  organs  of  surveillance,  making  it 
indispensable  that  all  changes  should  be  known  to  the 
public.  Thus  profession,  reputation,  and  daily  bread 
become  more  or  less  involved. 

And  here  it  is  but  justice  to  express  the  author's 
convictions,  which  an  extensive  acquaintance  with  the 
clergy  of  various  sects  has  induced,  that  there  is  not 
another  body  of  men,  of  equal  number  and  education, 
who  are  so  free  from  personal  considerations  of  this 
kind  in  forming  and  maintaining  opinions. 

The  entrance  on  the  clerical  profession  in  this  coun- 
try involves  the  sacrifice  of  all  hope  of  wealth  and  its 
advantages,  and  includes  often  poverty  and  a  painful 
dependence  on  the  vacillating  favor  of  parishes ;  so 
that,  to  a  man  of  talents  and  worldly  ambition,  the 
command  to  enter  this  profession  is  very  nearly  equiv- 
alent to  that  of  the  Great  Master's,  "Sell  all  that 
thou  hast  and  give  to  the  poor,  and  come  and  follow 
me." 

But  while  allowing  that,  as  a  class,  this  profession  is, 
most  of  all,  free  from  biasing  influences  of  the  kmd  in- 


HISTORY    OF   THE    DOGJklA.  327 

dicated,  it  can  not  but  be  allowed  that  tbej  are  sub- 
ject to  like  temptations  as  other  men,  and  that  these 
considerations  must  have  more  influence  with  them 
than  with  the  laity,  who  are  exposed  to  little  or  noth- 
ing of  this  kind. 

To  this,  add  the  fact  that  men  in  other  professions 
are  far  more  habituated  to  look  at  all  questions  in  a 
practical  relation,  and  to  use  the  principles  of  coimnon 
sense  more  than  the  principles  of  a  system. 

The  writer  has  had  frequent  occasion  to  notice  how 
the  well-trained  reasoners  of  other  professions  throw 
aside  the  theories  and  systems  of  theology,  and  settle 
down  on  the  great  practical  truths  of  Christianity. 

It  has  sometimes  been  a  matter  of  wonder  to  per- 
ceive how  little  attention  is  often  given  by  some  of  the 
most  gifted  and  well-trained  laity,  even  those  that  are 
devoutly  religious,  to  questions  deemed  of  paramount 
and  absorbing  interest  by  the  clergy. 

In  presenting  this  work  to  public  attention,  the  au- 
thor is  not  animated  with  the  expectation  of  any  im- 
mediate or  very  striking  results. 

Long-established  and  time-honored  opinions,  especi- 
ally when  they  are  entwined  with  the  sacred  hopes  and 
interests  of  religion,  are  changed  only  by  slow  and  grad- 
ual transitions,  and  these,  often,  almost  imperceptible. 

It  is  the  hope  of  the  author  to  do  something  to  pro- 
mote at  least  a  renevjed  discnssio7i  of  these  subjects, 
under  more  favorable  auspices  than  have  heretofore 
existed. 

The  circumstances  that  favor  and  indicate  such  a 
renewal  are,  in  the  first  place,  a  gradual  change  that 
has  been  going  on  the  last  thirty  years  in  the  theolog- 


328  ADDENDA. 

ical  world  as  the  result  of  discussions  on  these  very- 
subjects.  Some  of  the  most  candid  and  acuie  minds 
that  have  been  interested  in  such  discussions  have, 
more  and  more,  been  led  to  feel  the  difficulties  involved 
in  the  accepted  theory  of  Augustine  ;  and  though  few 
have  come  to  such  clear  convictions  on  the  subject  as 
to  feel  warranted  in  taking  any  public  stand  as  inno- 
vators or  reformers,  many  are  ready  to  examine  and 
discuss  in  a  very  different  attitude  of  mind  from  what 
has  ever  before  been  so  extensively  experienced. 

One  striking  indication  of  this  change  is  the  almost 
universal  neglect  of  "  indoctrinating  preaching"  among 
the  younger  clergy  in  those  sects  where,  forty  years 
ago,  it  was  deemed  indispensable  to  success  to  thus 
establish  the  "five  points  of  Calvinism." 

A  still  more  important  change  is  an  increase  in  that 
practical  preaching  that  urges  on  the  consciences  of 
men  all  their  domestic,  social,  and  moral  duties,  as  con- 
stituting an  essential  jyart  of  religion^  as  truly  as  the  af- 
fections toward  God  and  the  fecial  duties  owed  to  him. 

An  equal  or  greater  change  is  apparent  among  the 
laity.  The  strong  Calvinistic  doctrines  that  used  to 
be  so  reverently  received  are  either  simply  tolerated 
or  quietly  rejected.  This  is  particularly  the  case  with 
mothers  and  teachers,  both  in  the  family  and  in  the 
secular  and  Sunday  schools.  Thousands  of  practical, 
tender  mothers  utterly  refuse  to  teach  their  httle  ones 
that  a  depraved  nature  has  descended  to  them  from 
Adam,  and  that  they  can  never  perform  any  thing  that 
is  right  or  pleasing  to  God  till  this  nature  is  recreated ; 
or,  if  they  use  such  language,  it  is  with  explanations 
entirely  un-Calvinistic. 


HISTOKY   OF   THE   DOGMA.  329 

Instead  of  this,  they  teach  their  oiFspring  that  they 
can  please  and  obey  their  Heavenly  Parent  as  truly 
and  acceptably  as  they  do  their  earthly  parents ;  that 
when  they  have  so  learned  to  love  and  please  Him 
(or  to  feel  and  act  right)  that  it  is  their  chief  desire 
thus  to  do,  they  have  a  new  life.  This  "  new  birth," 
they  also  teach,  is  the  result  of  that  aid  from  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  Comforter,  which  both  parents  and  children 
so  need  that  they  can  never  succeed  without  it,  and 
yet  which  is  promised  to  all  who  earnestly  desire  it, 
and  seek  it  by  proper  methods. 

Multitudes  of  parents  and  teachers  are  pursuing  this 
method  in  churches  whose  ministers  would  entirely  re- 
volt from  the  idea  of  denying  the  Augustinian  theory 
or  the  system  of  Calvin  resting  upon  it.  Many  are 
doing  this,  unconscious  that  they  are  taking  a  course 
that  is  contrary  to  the  standards  of  their  Church. 

In  conclusion,  the  author  would  ask  attention  to  the 
chief  points  presented  in  this  volume. 

The  main  question  is,  are  these  principles  of  rea- 
son or  common  sense,  and  the  rules  for  interpreting 
language  here  set  forth,  accepted  as  guides  in  decid- 
ing the  great  questions  of  life  ? 

Next,  are  the  deductions  gained  by  their  aid  as  to 
what  can  be  learned  without  a  direct  revelation  from 
the  Creator,  accepted  ? 

Lastly,  is  the  Augustinian  theory  of  a  depraved 
mental  constitution  consequent  on  the  sin  of  the  first 
parents  of  the  race,  as  tried  by  these  principles,  sup- 
ported either  by  reason  or  the  Bible ;  and,  if  not, 
should  not  all  men  renounce  it,  both  theoretically  and 
practically  ? 


330  ADDENDA. 

In  answering  this  last,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that 
the  question  is  not  one  of  fact  as  to  the  depraved 
action  of  mind,  but  of  the  2>f^'^^osoj)hy  of  this  fact,  or 
the  cause  of  this  wrong  action.  A  man  may  not  be 
able  to  form  any  satisfactory  theory  on  this  question, 
and  be  content,  as  the  early  Christians  used  to  be,  to 
remain  without  one.  The  repudiation  of  the  Augus- 
tinian  theory  does  not  necessarily  involve  the  adop- 
tion of  any  other,  while  it  does  remove  insurmountable 
difficulties  from  just  and  generous  minds  in  accepting 
the  Bible  as  of  Divine  authority  while  encumbered 
with  what  seems  so  contrary  both  to  the  moral  sense 
and  the  common  sense  of  mankind. 


•  It  has  been  the  privilege  of  the  author  all  her  life  to 
be  intimately  associated,  by  family  and  other  connec- 
tions, with  the  ministers  of  religion  in  a  variety  of  de- 
nominations— those  intelligent,  excellent,  and  pious 
men  who,  more  than  any  other  class,  can  understand 
that  heavy  burden  of  spirit  connected  with  that  awful 
subject,  the  eternal  loss  of  the  huinan  soul. 

Before  closing,  they  will  permit  a  few  inquiries  in 
reference  to  this  subject.  The  almost  universal  cessa- 
tion of  "  revivals"  of  religion,  the  diminished  attend- 
ance of  the  masses  on  Sabbath  worship,  the  decrease 
in  the  relative  proportion  of  the  ministry,  the  diminu- 
tion of  spirituality  and  the  consequent  laxness  in  the 
Church,  the  increase  of  skepticism  and  infidelity  of 
various  grades,  the  terrific  rush  of  worldliness  on  all 
classes,  as  wealth,  and  luxury,  and  temptations  of  all 
kinds  abound,  are  not  all  these  signs  of  the  times  of 
fearful   import,   foreshadowing   either   some   dreadful 


HISTORY   OF  THE   DOGAIA.  331 

judgments,  or  the  advent  of  some  moral  forces  that 
are  appropriate  to  such  a  crisis  ? 

In  this  position  of  the  moral  world,  is  it  to  he  sup- 
posed that  theology  alone,  of  all  departments  of  science, 
has  reached  its  culminating  point,  so  that  there  is  no 
possibiUty  of  improvement  ?  Is  there  not  manifestly 
needed  far  more  powerful  motives  than  any  now  wield- 
ed to  stop  the  inrushing  tide  of  worldliness  ?  In  for- 
mer times,  when  revivals  abounded,  it  was  the  princi- 
ple oifear  that  was  first  appealed  to  with  such  won- 
derful results.  But  where  now  are  such  appeals  made 
as  once  shook  men's  consciences  with  fears  of  "  the 
wrath  to  come  f " 

If  such  preaching  abounds  in  any  quarter  of  our  na- 
tion, where  is  it  ?  In  all  her  travels  the  writer  finds 
it  wanting,  and  the  testimony  of  others  is  similar. 

Here,  now,  is  the  great  question :  Could  the  minis- 
try novj  preach  the  disthictive  theories  of  Calvinism, 
and  at  the  same  time  those  awful  views  of  the  eter- 
not  loss  of  the  soid,  warranted  by  Scripture  language, 
with  any  prospect  of  being  sustained  by  the  moral  sen- 
timents of  the  gTeat  body  of  benevolent  and  intelli- 
gent hearers  ?  Would  not  some  be  driven  to  reckless 
worldliness,  others  to  infidelity,  others  to  Universal- 
ism,  others  to  another  style  of  preaching,  till  the  re- 
mainder could  scarcely  maintain  any  preaching  at  all  ? 
Is  not  this  perceived  and  felt  by  many  ministers,  and 
is  not  this  one  great  reason  why  that  terrible  doctrine, 
on  which  the  whole  Gospel  is  based,  is  now  so  hidden 
or  so  slightly  recognized  in  the  pulpit  ministrations  ? 

And  yet,  to  the  writer,  it  seems  that  this  very  doc- 
trine, so  plain  and  awful  in  Holy  Writ,  could  be  so 


332  ADDENDA. 

drawn  forth  by  the  light  of  reason  alone  as  to  furnish 
a  power  of  motive  now  almost  unwielded.  It  seems 
as  if  the  terrible  exhibitions  of  this  volume  in  the  chap- 
ters on  Habit,  and  on  the  Wrong  Action  of  Mind  in  a 
Future  State,  might  be  wrought  out  by  a  man  of  talent 
and  eloquence  so  as  to  draw  such  audiences  as  once 
thronged  around  Whitfield,  and  with  equal  results. 
What,  then,  could  be  done  with  the  added  power  of 
revelation,  dissevered  from  obstructing  theories  ? 

When  the  writer  looks  back  on  her  own  mental  his- 
tory for  the  last  thirty  years,  and  feels  how  every  step 
of  her  life,  during  the  whole  of  that  period,  has  been 
regulated  by  the  overmastering  pressure  of  this  tre- 
mendous subject,  and  when  she  is  sure  that  a  convic- 
tion that  no  such  awful  dangers  beset  our  race  would 
bring  her  life  on  to  just  that  level  where  so  many 
Christians  complain  that  they  find  themselves,  the  que- 
ry will  often  arise  whether  ministers  who  say  so  little 
about  the  matter,  and  those  professed  Christians  who 
(zct  so  little  in  consistence  with  it,  really  do  believe  it  f 
And  yet,  when  her  own  difficulties  in  expressing  all 
that  has  been  thought  and  felt  are  recalled,  it  is  under- 
stood how  others  too  may  have  been  equally  embarass- 
ed  and  restrained. 

In  regard  to  the  main  topics  of  this  work,  is  not 
every  minister  called  to  decide,  jpractically,  between 
these  two  theories  ? 

The  first  is,  that  the  great  and  leading  aim  of  aU 
Christian  organization  should  be  to  train  newborn 
minds  aright^  and  that  it  is  the  special  office  of  the 
ministry  to  influence  the  educators  of  the  raee  to  the 
right  performance  of  this,  their  chief  duty. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   DOGMA.  333 

In  doing  this,  it  is  to  be  assumed  that  the  end  for 
which  we  are  made  is  "to  glorify  God"  by  obedience 
to  those  laws  by  which  "the  most  happiness  with 
the  least  evil"  is  to  be  secured  to  His  vast  eternal  em- 
pire. 

That,  at  ih^Jlrst  hirth  of  a  child,  it  is  "impossible, 
in  the  nature  of  things,"  for  it  to  feel  and  act  for  the 
happiness  of  others  till  it  has  learned  to  know  what 
gives  pleasure  and  pain  to  self^  and  to  understand  that 
there  are  other  beings  who  can  thus  enjoy  and  suffer ; 
so  that  a  child,  by  its  very  nature,  is  at  first  obliged 
to  be  selfish  in  the  exercise  of  faculties  which,  in  ref- 
erence to  the  great  whole,  are  perfect. 

That  the  "  second  birth"  is  the  sudden  or  the  grad- 
ual entrance  into  a  life  in  which  the  will  of  the  Crea- 
tor is  to  control  the  self-will  of  the  creature ;  while, 
under  the  influence  of  love  and  gratitude  to  Him,  and 
guided  by  "faith"  in  his  teachings,  living  chiefly  for 
the  great  commonwealth  takes  the  place  of  living 
chiefly  for  self  For  this,  the  supernatural  aid  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  promised  to  all  who  seek  it ;  and,  with- 
out this  aid,  success  is  hopeless.  But  the  grand  in- 
strumentality is  the  right  training  of  parents  and 
teachers. 

Then,  in  reference  to  that  great  change  of  character 
which  wrongly-educated  mind  must  pass  in  order  to 
gain  eternal  life,  there  are  three  modes  of  expression  in 
the  Bible  in  regard  to  that,  viz.,  "  love  to  God,"  "faith 
in  Jesus  Christ,"  and  "repentance." 

According  to  all  uses  of  these  terms,  in  practical 
matters,  love  is  nothing  which  does  not  include  obedi- 
ence or   conformity  of  will  and  action  to  the  being 


334  ADDENDA. 

loved.  Faith^  or  belief,  is  notHng  unless  it  includes 
its  fruits  of  obedience.  Repentance  is  nothing  unless 
it  includes  ceasing  to  do  evil. 

Obedience  to  the  laws  of  God,  physical,  social,  mor- 
al, and  religious,  is  the  grand,  indispensable  requisite. 
Xow,  when  any  person  is  so  engaged  in  striving  to 
obey  all  these  laws  that  it  is  the  first  interest  of  the 
mind,  then  there  is  a  "  new  heart  ;*'  and  so  great  is 
the  change  from  the  life  of  self-indulgence  and  disobe- 
dience to  one  of  such  earnest  desire  and  efforts  to  obey 
God,  that  it  is  properly  expressed  by  the  terms  "  bom 
again*'  and  '*  created  anew." 

The  contrasted  theory  is,  that  the  chief  end  of  man 
is  "to  glorify  God,"  without, perhaps, any  very  definite 
ideas  of  what  this  signifies ;  that  our  whole  race  comes 
into  life  with  dwarfed  and  ruined  moral  powers,  so 
that  it  is  as  impossible,  before  a  "  second  birth,"  to  feel 
and  act  right  as  it  is  for  a  corrupt  tree  to  bear  good 
fruit,  or  a  bitter  fountain  to  send  forth  sweet  waters ; 
and  that  the  great  end  of  Christian  organizations  is  to 
secure  and  administer  certain  appointed  methods  by 
which  God  re-creates  these  diseased  minds.  Thus  all 
training,  all  instructions,  all  good  habits,  are  nothing 
as  ha-ving  any  fitness  toward  either  preparing  a  child 
for  eternal  happiness,  or  inducing  God  to  re-create  its 
mind.  For  it  is  "  unconditional  election,"  and  not  any 
foreseen  act,  either  of  parent  or  child,  that  decides  their 
eternal  destiny. 

Can  any  minister  preach  without  assuming  one  of 
these  two  theories  as  the  very  foundation-principle  of 
his  ministrations  ?  And  is  this  matter  any  the  less  a 
practical  one  to  all  the  laity  ? 


HISTORY  OF  THE  DOGSIA.  335 

During  tlie  period  in  which  the  author  has  been  en- 
gaged as  a  practical  laborer  in  the  field  of  education, 
her  chief  earthly  reliance  has  been  on  the  counsel, 
sympathy,  and  co-operation  of  her  ovm  sex ;  and  in 
closing  a  work  especially  dedicated  to  them,  a  few 
parting  words  may  be  permitted. 

This  work  is  offered,  not  as  one  of  metaphysics  and 
theology,  to  exercise  the  intellect  alone.  It  presents 
the  grand  practical  question  of  life  to  looman  as  the 
mother,  the  educator,  the  nurse,  and  the  fountain  of 
home  sympathies  for  the  race.  It  is  the  question  over 
which  every  Christian  mother  ponders  with  aching 
heart  as  every  new  immortal  is  brought  to  her  arms. 
It  is  the  question  where  every  Christian  teacher  stands 
in  awe,  as,  gazing  into  the  dark  futurity  over  the 
dim  ocean  of  eternity,  each  young  mind  is  felt  to  be  a 
voyager  whose  frail  and  solitary  bark  is  soon  to  be 
launched.  The  Protestant  mother  or  teacher,  with 
the  Bible  in  her  hands,  can  not,  as  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  throw  off  this  tremendous  responsibility  on  to 
her  jpriest.  She  may  go  to  her  minister  for  aid,  but  at 
the  last  she  must  decide  for  herself  v^hdl  is  that  path 
which  Jesus  Christ  decides  to  be  right  in  guiding  the 
lambs  of  His  flock  through  such  awful  dangers. 

Here,  then,  is  the  great  practical  question  on  which 
depends  the  Ufe  of  the  soul,  and  for  eternity  I  and 
every  parent  and  every  teacher  must  decide  on  which 
theory  the  young  minds  committed  to  their  care  shall 
be  trained. 

In  contemplating  the  discussions  that  must  ere  long 
be  renewed  on  these  great  topics,  and  in  such  forms  as 
to  involve,  not  theologians  alone  or  chiefly,  but  the 


336  ADDENDA. 

people^  and  especially  the  most  intelligent  of  her  own 
sex,  the  writer  recalls  with  deep  interest  her  early 
efforts  as  a  pioneer  in  elevating  the  course  of  female 
education.  Then  she  supposed  herself  the  first,  as 
she  was  among  the  first,  to  introduce  such  works  as 
Butler's  Analogy,  Mental  Philosophy,  and  a  Mathe- 
matical course  as  a  regular  part  of  female  education. 
And  as  she  recalls  the  hundreds  of  bright,  vigorous, 
and  independent  minds  under  her  care  thus  trained  to 
reason  accurately,  and  now  scattered  as  mothers  and 
influential  members  of  society  in  almost  every  state 
in  the  Union,  and  then  remembers,  too,  how  many  in- 
stitutions all  over  the  land  have  for  years  pursued  the 
same  course,  she  can  not  but  thankfully  believe  that 
the  Almighty  Teacher  and  Euler  was  thus  preparing 
her  sex  for  these  very  responsibilities. 

In  relinquishing  that  educational  enterprise  which 
for  years  has  absorbed  her  time  and  strength,  while 
as  yet  it  is  so  imperfectly  understood  and  so  little  ap- 
preciated, she  asks,  with  tender  and  grateful  memories, 
the  attention,  not  only  of  her  dear  former  pupils,  but 
of  that  multitude  of  noble  and  benevolent  women  who, 
at  so  many  times  and  places,  have  afforded  her  their 
sympathy  and  aid,  to  what  is  still  farther  offered  on 
this  subject  in  the  closing  note.* 

*  See  Note  D. 


NOTES. 


Note  A,  page  17. 

SoJiE  atheists  imagine  that  they  escape  the  difficulty  by 
assuming  that  matter  is  eternal,  and  thus  uncreated.  But 
the  question  is,  not  in  reference  to  the  existence  of  matter, 
but  as  to  the  organization^  contrivances,  and  changes  of  mat- 
ter, all  of  which  prove  the  existence  of  some  Intelligent 
First  Cause. 

The  theory  of  an  ''  infinite  series  of  changes  and  causes 
without  a  beginning"  is  a  contradiction  in  terms,  as  can  be 
shown  to  any  person  who  understands  the  use  of  defini- 
tions, and  no  other  person  is  prepared  to  discuss  such  sub- 
jects intelligently. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  the  author,  in  this  work,  has 
not  attempted  to  present  a  complete  exhibition  of  all  the 
intuitive  truths,  but  only  such  a  portion  of  them  as  are 
adapted  to  the  design  of  this  work.  At  the  same  time,  by 
a  close  analysis,  some  here  presented  as  distinct  intuitions 
could  be  shown  to  be  specifics,  under  a  more  general  propo- 
sition. But  in  a  popular  work,  and  for  the  purposes  aimed 
at,  this  close  analysis  is  inappropriate. 


Note  B,  page  192. 
"Man's  chief  end  is  to  glorify  God  and  to  enjoy  him  for- 
ever," is  an  expression  equivalent  to  what  is  here  main- 
tained, if  we  assume  that  the  chief  "glory"  of  God  consists 
in  the  rectitude  and  happiness  of  his  vast  empire  of  intelli- 
gent minds. 

P 


338  NOTES. 

Various  other  terms  used  to  express  the  ultimate  end  of 
the  Creator  in  his  works,  accurate  definitions  would  show 
to  be  simply  different  words  chosen  to  express  the  same  idea 
as  that  here  presented. 


Note  C,  page  314. 
In  the  Home  3fissionary  for  February,  1856,  is  the  fol- 
lowing mournful  exhibition  of  the  results  of  these  sectarian 
divisions : 

"  Subdivision  a  Source  of  Weakness  and  Destitution. 

"  Now  it  is  but  too  evident  that  our  American  Christen- 
dom is  prosecuting  its  work,  in  some  respects,  at  a  disad- 
vantage. True,  funds  have  been  furnished  with  a  commend- 
able liberality ;  but,  worse  than  a  dearth  of  money — which 
a  few  months  of  vigorous  effort,  or  a  prosperous  turn  in  the 
market  might  remove — there  is  a  dearth  of  men.  Fields 
are  explored,  openings  are  found,  communities  are  fast  form- 
ing, and  even  make  urgent  requests  for  ministers,  but  often 
there  are  no  ministers  to  send.  The  great  exigency  of  the 
missionary  work  now  is  the  want  of  capable  and  devoted 
men, 

"  However  we  may  charge  this  upon  the  lukewarmness 
of  the  churches,  upon  the  absence  of  correct  views  respect- 
ing ministerial  support — and  its  consequent  meagi'eness — 
or  on  the  prevalence  among  young  men  of  a  subtile  skep- 
ticism, we  may  not  shut  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  the  want 
must  continue  as  long  as  that  unfortunate  division  of  the 
field  continues,  which  must  ever  come  from  divided  coun- 
sels and  sectarian  rivalries.  Destitutions  are  likely  to  last 
while  alienations  last. 

"Every  denomination  naturally  feels  that  it  must  be 
strong  in  the  centres  of  population  ;  and  so,  without  asking 
whether  the  Church  of  Christ  needs  so  many  congregations 


NOTES.  339 

there,  we  crowd  our  six  separate  enterprises,  of  as  many 
rival  names,  into  a  little  place  where  two  churches  would  da 
more  good  than  the  half  dozen. 

"The  evils  that  result  from  this  course  are  many  and  va- 
rious. One  consequence  of  it  is  a  weakening  of  the  unity 
and  the  moral  force  of  the  Church  as  a  whole.  Another 
is  the  diminution  of  the  numbers  and  the  strength  of  the 
several  local  societies,  so  that  an  amount  of  assistance  many 
times  greater  is  needed,  and  this  need  is  prolonged  for  years, 
when  often  its  period  should  have  been  reckoned  in  months. 
But  a  third  consequence  of  this  overcrowding  of  one  portion 
of  the  missionary  field  is  the  destitution  of  other  portions. 
While  many  villages  are  so  well  supplied  as  to  leave  pas- 
tors and  churches  leisure  to  quarrel,  many  rural  districts 
and  young  communities  are  almost  totally  neglected.  If  all 
the  preachers  in  the  United  States  were  evangelical  men, 
well  educated  and  devoted  to  their  work,  they  would  no 
more  than  supply  the  real  wants  of  the  country,  upon  a 
system  of  wise  distribution.  On  a  system,  then,  so  unfor- 
tunate as  this,  its  destitutions  are  not  supplied ;  and  we 
hear  from  all  quarters  the  cry,  Send  more  laborers  into  the 
harvest. 

"  A  Cause  of  Unwillingness  to  enter  the  Ministry. 
"Again,  a  fourth  consequence  of  our  denominational  di- 
visions, and  another  cause  of  destitution,  is  seen  in  the  diffi- 
culty of  persuading  young  men  of  enterprise  to  enter  the 
ministry.  When  we  consider  how  the  field  of  ministerial 
labor  is  cut  up  into  small  parishes,  affording  to  men  of  su- 
perior capacity  but  a  limited  scope  for  some  of  their  best 
qualities — with  scarcely  the  possibihty  of  much  improve- 
ment— promising,  also,  only  a  meagre  support  and  a  moder- 
ate usefulness,  we  can  not  wonder  that  young  men  who  are 
conscious  of  the  ability  to  occupy  a  larger  sphere,  and  whose 
nature  thirsts  after  something  stirring  and  an  opportunity 


340  NOTES. 

for  a  hopeful  struggle  and  for  achievement,  should  often 
shrink  from  the  seeming  narro^Tiess  and  hopelessness  of  the 
work  which  is  here  offered  them.  We  need  not  praise  the 
truthfulness  of  their  appreciation  in  all  particulars,  but  have 
we,  on  the  whole,  a  right  to  anticipate  a  different  decision  ? 
No.  The  result  is  manifestly  one  that  must  be  expected. 
There  is  not  the  least  doubt  that  this  diminution  in  the  size 
of  parishes  is  also  a  diminution  in  the  attractiveness  of  the 
pastoral  office.  And  so  this  very  multitude  of  denomina- 
tions, which  has  increased  the  want  of  ministers,  operates, 
in  more  ways  than  one,  to  diminish  the  supply. 

"  A  Discouragement  and  a  Weanness. 
"But,  what  is  yet  worse,  it  tends  to  injure  the  ministry. 
No  preacher  but  has  felt,  at  times,  the  depressing  influence 
of  a  small  audience.  A  large  proportion  of  the  missiona- 
ries at  the  West  feel  this  at  all  times ;  and  often  the  intel- 
lect is  jaded,  and  the  heart  is  wearied  out,  from  the  want 
of  that  natural  stimulus  which  the  presence  of  a  multitude 
and  the  pressure  of  an  important  occasion  alone  can  afford. 
If  it  is  discouraging  to  find  your  people  coming  out  in  small 
numbers  on  rainy  vSabbaths,  what  is  it  to  have  nothing  but 
small  numbers  the  year  through,  and  year  after  year  ?  How 
must  this  tend  to  check  youthful  enthusiasm,  and  to  dull 
the  fires  of  intellectual  and  moral  energy.  If  our  brethren 
of  the  West  have  not  fallen  behind  themselves,  it  certainly 
is  not  due  to  the  inspiration  of  large  audiences  or  of  popu- 
lous and  able  parishes ;  for,  with  so  many  divisions  in  such 
sparse  and  unstable  communities,  these  can  not  be  other- 
wise than  small.  Good  men  will  labor  on,  indeed,  under 
all  these  discouragements ;  and  the  gi-eatness  of  their  faith 
wall  make  their  work  and  achievement  great.  They  may 
triumph  over  these  difficulties,  but  they  contend  at  disad- 
vantage ;  and  the  difficulties  are  real,  notwithstanding  the 
highest  fidelity. 


NOTES.  341 

"  Number  and  Policy  of  Denominations. 
*' There  are  more  than  forty  religious  denominations  in 
the  United  States.  Four  of  these — the  N.  S.  Presbyteri- 
ans, the  O.  S.  Presbyterians,  the  Congregationalists  and 
Baptists,  together  with  the  Methodists  and  Episcopalians 
— habitually  esteem  it  a  matter  of  obligation  to  be  repre- 
sented in  every  community  where  it  is  possible  to  gather  a 
church  of  their  name,  and,  in  establishing  these  churches, 
deem  it  no  part  of  their  duty  to  consider,  in  the  least,  the 
welfare  of  any  congregation  of  a  different  name  that  may 
have  been  previously  gathered.  "VYe  have  six  great  evan- 
gelical churches,  each  one  of  whom  feels  bound  to  push  for- 
ward its  own  gi'owth,  with  a  disregard  of  the  interests  of 
all  other  churches,  which  is  equivalent  to  an  ignoring  of 
their  existence,  and,  in  practical  effect,  identifies  the  King- 
dom of  God  with  the  denomination.  It  is  very  much  as 
though  each  one  had  laid  it  down  as  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  its  procedure — We  are  the  saints. 

"  Waste  of  Resources. 
"Now  it  is  obvious  that  this  system  must  bring  about 
an  unfortunate  distribution  of  labor  and  a  great  waste  of 
power;  in  some  localities  multiplying  churches  to  excess, 
and  leaving  other  regions  destitute ;  making  the  town  con- 
gregations weak,  from  their  very  multitude,  and  losing  the 
happy  moment  in  communities  that  are  just  forming  from 
the  want  of  the  right  men  to  occupy  them  at  the  right  mo- 
ment ;  while  many  laborers  abuse  as  much  time  and  strength 
in  working  against  each  other  as  they  use  in  working  for 
Christ.  So  churches  are  born  weak,  and  are  compelled  to 
worry  through  a  long  and  fretful  infancy,  are  kept  on  a  diet 
irritatingly  low,  and  compelled  to  struggle,  with  slow  and 
uncertain  growth,  toward  a  maturity  which  must  come  late, 
and  may  come  never." 


3^ 


NOTES. 


Statistics. 

Here  follow  statistics,  the  details  of  which  we  omit,  and 
give  these  as  the  results,  as  seen  in  thixe  of  the  larger  de- 
nominations, viz. :  the  O.  S.  Presbyterian,  the  N.  S.  Presby- 
terian, and  the  Congregational. 

In  this  table  is  shown  the  number  of  churches,  with  a  giv- 
en number  of  members  to  each  church. 


Number  of  Members. 

So 

!1 

^1 

11 

o 

H 

11 

it 
^1 

Presbyterian  O.S 

Presbj-terian  N.  S 

Congregational 

1239 
743 
696 

1907 
1180 
1219 

763 
432 

7n9 

278 
163 
245 

101 
70 
83 

2670 
1612 
1971 

Total  of  three  denominations 

2678 

4306  i  1947 

686 

254 

6253 

^^ Proportion  of  strong  and  weak  Churches. 
"More  than  one  fifth,  therefore,  of  all  the  churches  con- 
nected with  these  denominations  may  be  counted  as  very 
weak,  none  of  them  having  more  than  twenty-five  members, 
and  the  average  falling  considerably  below  that  number. 
Nearly  one  fourth  may  be  counted  as  weak,  their  member- 
ship ranging  between  twenty-five  and  fifty ;  and  these,  taken 
together  with  those  that  are  weaker  yet,  constitute  nearly 
forty-three  per  cent,  of  the  whole.  More  than  two  thirds 
of  all  the  churches  do  not  contain  over  one  hundred  mem- 
bers. Those  that  exceed  one  hundred  are  about  thirty-one 
per  cent.,  and  those  that  exceed  two  hundred  are  not  quite 
eleven  per  cent,  of  the  entire  number. 

^^  Present  Supply  of  Ministers  ijiadequate, 
"  The  whole  number  of  ministers  in  these  three  denom- 
inations is  6150.  The  number  of  pastors  and  stated  sup- 
plies (errors  excepted)  is  4336,  leaving  1814  to  be  classed 
as  without  charge,  as  professors,  teachers,  editors,  secreta- 
ries, etc. 


NOTES.  343 

"The  number  of  churches  in  the  three  denominations 
whose  membership  exceeds  fifty  is  some  five  hundred  less 
than  the  number  of  pastors  and  stated  supplies.  If,  there- 
fore, each  of  the  five  hundred  men  remaining  after  the 
largest  churches  were  supplied  were  to  take  two  of  the 
smaller  churches,  more  than  sixteen  hundred  churches 
would  still  be  left  destitute ;  and  if  allowance  be  made  for 
those  not  reporting,  this  number  must  be  taken  as  exceed- 
ing two  thousand.  Probably  none  of  these  contain  more 
than  thirty-five  members. 

^^  Deficiency  clue  to  Divisions. 

*'Now  we  need  a  thousand-fold  increase  of  our  effective 
force  in  the  great  harvest-field  of  the  world ;  but  have  we 
any  reason  to  expect  that  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  will  hear 
our  cry  for  laborers,  and  raise  them  up  indefinitely,  in  order 
to  meet  wants  unnecessarily,  nay,  wickedly  created  by  our 
divisions  ?  Would  a  spendthrift  son  expect  to  prevail  with 
an  indulgent  father  to  administer  to  his  necessities  on  the 
plea  or  the  confession  that  he  had  squandered  his  former 
bounty,  and,  moreover,  was  intending  to  make  a  similar 
use  of  what  he  then  solicited?  The  responsibility  rests 
upon  Christians  of  no  one  name,  and  it  would  seem  that  if 
the  people  of  God  every  where  could  but  have  a  full  real- 
ization of  the  heart-rending  inadequacy  of  all  means  yet 
employed  for  the  conversion  of  the  world,  or  of  the  utter 
hopelessness  of  ever  meeting  the  vast  want  under  such  a 
waste  of  power,  the  work  of  economical  adjustment  would 
at  once  and  earnestly  commence,  and  also  a  new  consecra- 
tion— that  the  evangelization  of  the  world  may  be  carried 
forward  upon  a  scale  commensurate  with  the  ];  rovidential 
openings  for  missionary  effort. 

"That  would  be,  indeed,  a  glorious  revolution  which 
should  bring  the  true  disciples  of  Christ  every  where  to 
this  position — to  a  consecration  that  should  keep  nothing 


344  NOTES. 

back  from  the  Lord,  to  a  heaven-appointed  economy  in  the 
adjustment  offerees,  a  condensation  of  churches  in  the  same 
neighborhood,  till  the  combined  body  could  support  a  pas- 
tor, furnish  him  with  all  needed  facilities  for  the  prosecution 
of  liis  work,  and,  at  the  same  time,  open  to  him  an  adequate 
field  of  labor.  All  supernumerary  ministers  in  a  given  lo- 
cality would  thus  be  set  loose  for  effort  where  men  are  per- 
ishing for  lack  of  vision.  Then  Apollos  would  not  inter- 
fere with  Paul  when  he  planted,  nor  Paul  with  Apollos 
when  he  watered,  nor  would  both  either  plant  or  water  at 
the  same  point  or  time,  provided  one  could  do  the  work. 

^'•Divisions  unnecessanj, 
"  But  it  is  possible  that  some,  calling  to  mind  the  large 
number  of  weak  congregations  at  the  East — where  denom- 
inational rivaliy  is  less  active  than  at  the  West — may  claim 
that  this  feebleness  is  but  a  part  of  the  necessary  imperfec- 
tion of  human  arrangements  ;  that  we  must  always  have  the 
poor  with  us,  and  that  it  is  not  the  sectarianism  of  the  West 
which  so  reduces  our  churches.  It  were  sufficient  to  sug- 
gest, in  reply,  that  the  weak  churches  in  the  older  states 
are  found  where  the  communities  are  weak,  in  barren  or 
uncultivated  districts,  or  in  regions  depopulated  by  emigra- 
tion, while  a  large  proportion  of  the  feeble  churches  of  the 
"West  are  in  populous,  vigorous,  growing  communities, 
where  nothing  but  irreligion  or  division  could  keep  the  con- 
gregations from  being  numerous,  and  where  nothing  less 
than  the  combination  of  the  two  could  keep  them  so  small 
as  they  are.  Yonder  are  three  debilitated  churches  strug- 
gling for  existence  against  each  other.  Is  it  necessary  to 
ask  whether,  if  they  were  joined  in  one,  and  were  with  one 
heart  and  voice  contending  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  the 
Christian  strength  of  that  community  would  not  be  greater  ? 


NOTES.  345 

^'Proportion  of  weak  Churches  at  the  West. 
"But  facts  are  at  hand  which  show  that  the  relative 
number  of  feeble  churches  is  much  larger  at  the  West  than 
at  the  East.  Of  the  churches  in  Illinois  and  Iowa  connect- 
ed with  three  leading  denominations,  the  proportion  that 
must  be  accounted  very  weak — having  not  more  than  twen- 
ty-five communicants — is  almost  twice  as  great  as  in  the 
same  denomination  taken  entire,  and  amounts  to  nearly  tivo 
fifths  of  the  whole  number  reporting.  These,  again,  taken 
with  those  whose  membership  ranges  between  twenty-five 
and  fifty,  make  up  nearly  seventy  per  cent,  of  the  whole  I" 

The  author  would  ask  attention  to  a  few  questions  in 
view  of  these  statistics. 

The  above  table  was  formed  from  reporting  churches. 
There  are  934  churches  not  reporting.  Giving  to  these  last 
the  average  proportion  of  ministers  and  weak  churches,  and 
we  find  this  result : 

Wliole  number  of  churches 7187 

Ministers  acting  as  pastors  and  supplies 4336 

Churches  without  ministers 2851 

That  is  to  say,  in  three  of  our  largest  and  most  wealthy  and 
intelligent  denominations,  nearly  one  third  of  their  churches 
are  without  ministers,  and  nearly  one  half  of  them  have 
not  over  fifty  members,  and  the  majority  of  these  members, 
no  doubt,  are  women.  Then  the  relative  number  of  minis- 
ters is  constantly  decreasing. 

In  this  state  of  things,  to  what  is  the  Church  and  minis- 
try coming  ? 

When  young  men  of  talents  and  energy  see  not  only  in- 
dependence, but  wealth  before  them  in  other  callings,  where, 
in  preparing,  they  will  not  need  to  spend  nine  years  in  dead 
languages  and  literature  never  to  be  used ;  where  they  can 
have  an  abundant  field  of  usefulness,  and  where  their  minds 
P2 


346  NOTES. 

can  hQfree  from  creeds  and  the  supervision  of  ecclesiastics 
and  parishes,  how  long  will  any  such  seek  the  ministry  % 

Will  not  the  ministry  thus  soon  become  the  resort,  first, 
of  poor,  ambitious  young  men,  who  find  in  its  official  stand- 
ing the  surest  mode,  with  moderate  talents  and  means,  to 
gain  the  highest  social  j^osition  ;  and  next,  of  ambitious  young 
men  of  talents,  who,  among  such  inferior  competitors,  are 
sure  of  the  best  pulpits  and  highest  salaries  ? 

Again :  How  long  will  the  laity  so  freely  pour  out  their 
earnings  to  endow  colleges  and  theological  seminaries  when 
such  results  as  these  are  seen  ? 


Note  D,  page  336. 

In  resigning  all  farther  agency  in  practical  educational 
efforts,  the  writer  hopes,  after  so  many  years  of  devotion  to 
it,  she  may  be  allowed  to  speak  with  entire  frankness  her 
views  as  to  the  present  modes  of  education. 

The  last  thirty  years  have  witnessed  great  efforts  all  over 
the  nation  to  improve  and  increase  common  schools,  and  to 
multiply  higher  educational  institutions.  Although  much 
has  been  said  and  written  in  regard  to  physical  and  moral 
training  in  schools,  unfortunately  very  little  has  been  accom- 
plished. 

It  is  the  intellectual  department  of  the  brain  that  has  ab- 
sorbed attention,  as  if  this  were  the  chief,  or  even  the  whole 
of  man.  Parents  stimulate,  teachers  stimulate,  lecturers 
stimulate,  superintendents  stimulate,  school  committees 
stimulate — all  turning  their  full  energies  on  to  only  one 
function  of  the  brain. 

In  our  colleges,  this  intellectual  stimulating  is  divided  and 
subdivided,  one  professor  for  one  department,  another  for  a 
second,  and  another  for  a  third,  and  so  on,  till  from  twelve 
to  twenty  are  thus  employed.    Meantime  the  training  of  the 


NOTES,  '  347 

body,  or  the  development  of  the  social,  domestic,  and  moral 
powers,  have  not  even  one  to  minister  the  needful  care. 

Then,  in  preparatory  boarding-schools  for  boys,  taken 
from  mother,  sisters,  and  home  influences  in  the  first  blush  of 
youth,  all  the  school  stimulus  is  turned  on  to  the  brain  to 
develop  Latin,  Greek,  and  mathematics,  while  health  of 
body  and  soul  perish  under  abuse  or  neglect. 

Then  the  boarding-school  is  taking  the  young  girls  through 
a  kind  of  college  course  at  the  most  critical  period  of  life, 
while  their  chief  nervous  energies  are  exhausted  in  com- 
pleting a  given  course  of  study  in  a  given  time,  and  almost 
every  law  of  health  for  body  and  mind  are  violated. 

Then,  in  our  primary  schools,  especially  in  cities,  where 
pure  air,  healthful  exercise,  and  home  employments  are  least 
at  command,  all  the  energies  of  school  committees  and  su- 
perintendents of  schools  are  directed  to  securing  a  given 
amount  of  intellectual  labor. 

But  what  is  the  teaching  of  physiology  on  this  matter  1 
Through  one  of  its  greatest  writers,  thus  it  speaks : 

"If  young  children  are  compelled  to  sit  quietly  while 
their  minds  are  urged  to  undue  action,  we  take  from  them 
the  noblest  part  of  their  strength,  and  consume  it  in  the  function 
of  thinking.  Thus  growth  is  retarded,  the  limbs  imperfectly 
developed,  the  digestion  (and  thus  the  blood)  becomes  bad, 
scrofula  perhaps  appears,  and  then  ensues  a  great  predom- 
inance of  the  nervous  system.  Any  unequal  development 
of  our  faculties  is  injurious.  It  is  certain  that  mental  ex- 
ertions weaken  the  more  they  are  unaccompanied  by  bodily 
movements.  Those  who,  between  mental  occupations,  take 
bodily  exercise,  can  do  more  than  those  who  neglect  this 
exercise." 

The  grand  evils  of  our  present  modes  of  education  are, 
not  that  too  much  intellectual  training  is  bestowed,  but  that 
physical,  social,  and  domestic  training  are  neglected.  Tho 
result  is  a  universal  decay  of  national  vigor  and  health.    Other 


348  NOTES. 

causes,  such  as  the  use  of  stoves  and  unventilated  houses, 
improper  diet  and  dress,  with  excess  in  other  modes  of  stim- 
ulating, have  had  a  large  share  in  the  evil,  but  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  mistaken  modes  of  education  are  the  chief 
causes  of  the  acknowledged  fact  that  our  national  health  is 
perishing  at  a  frightful  rate. 

There  are  facts  that  prove  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  as  de- 
veloped in  America  under  the  best  circumstances,  is  ,^he 
most  perfect  race  on  earth  as  it  respects  size,  strength,  and 
beauty.  The  mountain  regions  of  Kentucky  and  Tennes- 
see, where  the  climate  allows  all  to  live  in  pure  air  night 
and  day,  with  the  simple  food  and  habit  of  forest  life,  send 
out  sons  that,  appearing  in  foreign  lands,  are  followed  by 
admiring  crowds  as  specimen  giants.  General  \Yashing- 
ton's  staff,  though  not  picked  men,  were  most  of  them  over 
six  feet  in  height,  with  size  and  muscle  to  correspond.  The 
vigorous  mothers  and  stalwart  sons  that  achieved  our  Rev- 
olution have  given  place  to  sickly  mothers  with  a  delicate 
and  puny  offspring. 

The  Greeks,  though  they  educated  the  mind,  took  even 
more  pains  to  train  the  body,  and  thus  they  became  the 
wisest,  strongest,  and  most  powerful  people  on  earth.  We 
might  do  the  same,  and  with  far  greater  facilities;  but, 
should  our  present  rate  of  deterioration  proceed,  two  or 
more  generations  would  bring  us  out  a  race  of  deformed  and 
unhealthy  pigmies.  For  facts  to  sustain  such  a  prediction, 
the  author  begs  leave  to  refer  to  her  Letters  to  the  People  on 
Health  and  Happiness. 

The  great  point  now  urged  is  that  woman  should  be 
trained,  not,  as  some  would  urge,  to  enter  the  professions  of 
men,  but  for  her  own  proper  business,  in  educating  mind  in 
developing  the  body  of  infancy  and  childhood,  and  in  con- 
ducting the  economy  of  an  orderly,  happy,  and  well-regu- 
lated home.  These  arduous  and  complicated  duties  demand 
able  assistance,  and  here  is  the  caUing  of  the  female  educa- 


NOTES.  349 

tor ;  not  to  carry  off  children  from  their  parents  and  home, 
but  rather  to  aid  these  parents  in  education  in  all  depart- 
ments. 

It  is  manifestly  the  Divine  intention  that  parents  should 
be  the  chief  educators  of  the  race,  and  all  plans  consistent 
with  this  will  succeed,  and  all  counter  to  it  will  fail.  The 
boarding-school  is  not  in  consonance  with  this  Heaven-ap- 
pointed plan,  and  the  evils  multiply  around  it  so  fast  that 
a  nation  of  so  much  common  sense  as  ours  must  soon  for- 
sake it  for  the  true  method. 

Again:  in  the  grand  object  of  educating  humanity  for  an 
eternal  existence,  the  questions  as  to  how  ordination  or  bap- 
tism shall  be  administered,  or  whether  it  shall  be  church 
elders  or  church  committees  that  rule,  are  to  be  made  sec- 
ondary, and  the  followers  of  Christ  are  to  unite  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  race,  not  as  sects,  but  as  Christians. 

These  views  present  the  principles  on  Avhich  is  organized 
the  American  Woman's  Educational  Association. 

Its  main  features  are,  that  it  unites  all  sects  in  educa- 
tion ;  that  it  spends  its  funds,  not  for  great  buildings  to  de- 
prive the  young  of  parents  and  homes,  but  to  provide  well- 
trained  educators  to  assist  parents  in  their  homes;  and, 
finally,  its  leading  aim  is  to  prepare  woman  for  her  distbictive 
duties  as  educator,  nurse,  and  fountain  of  home  sympathies 
for  the  race. 

In  attempting  this,  the  methods  the  other  sex  have  em- 
ployed to  honor  and  sustain  their  professions  have  been 
claimed,  viz. :  institutions  governed  by  a  faculty  instead  of 
an  individual,  and  teachers  supported  by  endowments  for  this 
express  object. 

The  following  extract  from  the  fourth  Annual  Eeport  of 
this  Association  gives  some  of  the  results. 

*'  We  are  now  prepared  to  indicate  what  lias  been  accom- 
plished. We  have,  then,  in  the  first  place,  evolved  and  set 
forth  a  fundamental  idea.    This  is  no  small  part  of  the  sue- 


350  NOTES. 

cess  of  any  great  movement.  Whatever  were  the  difficul- 
ties of  first  learning  to  print,  the  triumph  of  Guttenberg  was 
nearly  achieved  when  he  first  mastered  the  idea  of  the  type. 
It  was  a  secondary  affair  to  work  it  out  and  set  the  world 
vibrating  to  its  power.  We  have  got  the  idea,  and  done 
something  toward  its  execution. 

"  We  have  secured  the  existence  of  two  institutions  on 
our  plan,  one  at  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  and  the  other  at 
Dubuque,  Iowa,  whose  united  catalogues  will  show  some 
five  hundred  pupils  the  past  year.  Both  are  in  very  suc- 
Qessful  operation,  with  efficient  boards  of  teachers,  silently 
doing  the  work  for  which  they  have  been  established. 

"  We  have  united  all  the  Protestant  citizens  in  the  noble 
work  of  founding  and  patronizing  these  institutions,  which 
they  cherish  as  among  their  most  valued  public  establish- 
ments. We  have  shown  that  the  faculty  j^rinaple  is  as  good 
for  female  institutions  as  for  those  of  the  other  sex,  and  that 
results  may  be  expected  from  it  for  woman  corresponding 
in  utility  and  dignity  with  those  it  has  secured  to  man. 

"We  have  shown  that,  by  the  offe?'  of  the  small  endow- 
ment of  twenty  thousand  dollars,  we  can  secure  the  estab- 
lishment of  one  of  these  invaluable  institutions,  and  make 
it  a  permanent  source  of  measureless  good — a  most  econom- 
ical and  wise  expenditure  of  educational  benefactions. 

"We  have,  in  short,  carried  out  our  plan  successfully 
just  as  far  as  it  can  be  done  befoi^e  the  endowments  are  act- 
ually furnished. 

"  We  have  made  a  beginning  toward  raising  the  first  en- 
dowment, and  are  able  to  report  on  hand  and  pledged  near- 
ly ten  thousand  dollars. 

"Our  movement  has  the  confidence  and  full  endorsement 
of  many  leading  clergymen,  educators,  and  editors  of  our 
country.  Our  institutions  have  the  hearty  co-operation  of 
the  religious  bodies  where  they  arc  located. 

"  At  our  last  annual  meeting,  an  urgent  rec[uest  was  made 


NOTES.  351 

to  the  Association  to  aid  in  the  establishment  of  a  third  in- 
stitution at  Kalamazoo,  Michigan.  Without  any  pledge  of 
immediate  action,  it  was  agreed  that,  if  the  citizens  should 
comply  with  our  conditions,  we  would  aid  them  as  soon  as 
our  means  would  allow.  Those  conditions  have  not  yet 
been  met,  and  we  have  not,  therefore,  been  called  to  do  any 
thing  at  that  place. 

"  It  has  seemed  desirable,  moreover,  that  the  endowment 
of  the  two  institutions  already  established  should  be  com- 
pleted before  attempting  to  found  others." 

The  questions  most  frequently  proposed  to  the  conduct- 
ors of  this  enterprise,  and  the  answers  to  them,  will  now 
be  introduced. 

How  can  the  business  of  domestic  economy  be  taught  as 
a  part  of  school  training  1 

Not  in  great  boarding-schools,  where  it  never  was  or  can 
be  done.  The  "  Mount  Holyoke"  plan,  now  so  popular, 
is  widely  supposed  to  embrace  this  in  its  design.  But  the 
teaching  of  this  science  is  not  the  aim  of  their  domestic  de- 
partment. It  is  a  measure  for  reducing  expenses  by  saving 
hired  labor,  while  certain  social  advantages  are  supposed  to 
be  combined  with  it.  But  no  pupil  is  to  be  taught  any  thing 
in  this  department.  Meantime,  introducing  cooking,  wash- 
ing, ironing,  and  house-cleaning  as  a  regular  part  of  school 
duty,  makes  a  system  of  such  detail  and  complication,  de- 
manding so  many  rules  and  such  strict  obedience  as  adds 
enormously  to  the  already  excessive  pressure  that  is  put  on 
the  female  brain.  This  is  probably  an  insuperable  diffi- 
culty attendant  on  this  system,  that  will  forever  forbid  its 
introduction  wherever  the  healthful  development  of  woman 
has  its  proper  regard. 

How,  then,  is  the  object  aimed  at  to  be  accomplished? 

In  reply  we  say,  that,  with  institutions  established  for  the 
express  purpose  of  training  women  to  be  healthy  themselves, 
and  to  perform  properly  all  their  duties  as  educator,  nurse, 


352  NOTES. 

and  regulator  of  the  domestic  state ;  with  teachers  support- 
ed by  endowments  for  this  express  object ;  with  a  board  of 
managers  embracing  some  of  the  most  influential  ladies  in 
the  land,  who  are  or  have  been  both  practical  teachers  and 
housekeepers ;  with  committees  of  influential  ladies  in  each 
place  where  such  institutions  are  located  to  co-operate,  the 
thing  attempted  can  not  fail  to  be  done,  and  in  the  best 
manner.  Whatever  ought  to  be  done,  can  be ;  and  what- 
ever can  be  done,  will  be,  when  energetic  American  women 
fairly  undertake  it. 

But  will  endowments  for  such  institutions  be  furnished  ? 

In  reply,  we  point  to  the  multitudes  of  needless  colleges  for 
the  other  sex  all  over  the  land,  for  which  the  people  are  pour- 
ing forth  such  abundant  endowments,  while  icomen  are  even 
more  liberal,  according  to  their  relative  means,  than  men. 

Since  this  effort  commenced,  one  lady  has  endowed  a 
professorship  in  Brunswick  College,  Maine.  Another  lady 
has  added  §20,000  to  the  nearly  one  million  endowments  of 
Cambridge.  These  two  are  the  first  cases  of  endowments 
for  the  physical,  social,  and  moral  departments  of  education. 
Woman,  then,  has  first  done  for  man  what  is  now  sought 
for  her  sex. 

In  this  same  short  period,  sufficient  for  the  endowment  of 
a  theological  professorship  in  Connecticut  has  been  furnished 
by  female  benefactors.  In  New  Jersey  a  lady  has  given 
some  $30,000  for  a  college.  In  New  York  City  another 
lady  has  endowed  a  theological  professorship.  In  Albany, 
New  York,  a  lady  has  given  $50,000  for  a  scientific  in- 
stitution for  man.  In  Massachusetts  a  lady  has  given  more 
than  enough  to  endow  a  professorship  for  a  college  in  Wis- 
consin. Many  more  cases  can  be  given  of  large  benefactions, 
amounting  in  all  to  hundreds  of  thousands,  given  by  woman 
within  a  few  years  for  the  richly-provided  professional  insti- 
tutions of  man,  while  as  yet  not  one  complete  endowment 
for  her  sex  has  been  raised. 


NOTES.  353 

Why  is  this  ?  Because  it  is  so  diflScult  to  change  long- 
established  customs  and  habits  of  thought.  The  idea  that 
every  thing  must  be  done  for  man's  profession,  and  nothing 
for  woman's,  has  so  long  been  dominant,  that  even  our  own 
sex  have  fallen  into  that  belief  and  practice. 

But  the  American  people  are  eminent  for  practical  wis- 
dom and  common  sense.  The  time  is  certainly  coming 
when  the  true  vieiv  is  to  possess  the  public  mind,  and  then 
the  right  practice  will  follow.  The  question  is  simply  one 
as  to  time,  and  as  to  ivko  are  to  be  the  first  to  provide  means 
for  this  great  movement  to  promote  the  right  physical,  do- 
mestic, and  moral  training  of  our  race,  whose  names  shall 
shine  as  benefactors  of  our  sex,  as  Harvard  and  Yale  have 
shone  for  the  other. 

But  it  is  asked,  Why  go  to  the  West  to  establish  such  in- 
stitutions ? 

Because  the  evils  of  sectarian  strife  affect  educational  in- 
terest most  severely  there ;  because  educational  institutions 
are  most  needed  there ;  and  because  the  moral  soil,  like  the 
natural,  bears  fruit  so  quickly  and  so  abundantly. 

But  why  not  endow  large  boarding  institutions  already  es- 
tablished ? 

Because  it  is  contrary  to  the  grand  design  of  Providence 
to  take  children  away  from  parents  to  educate  them ;  be- 
cause it  is  more  economical  to  provide  superior  teachers  and 
school-houses  in  cities  and  large  towns,  than  to  turn  funds 
into  brick  and  mortar  to  congregate  great  communities  of 
the  young  away  from  parents,  home,  and  all  domestic  pur- 
suits ;  and  because  those  who  need  to  go  to  boarding-schools 
can  find  homes  in  private  families  in  large  towns. 

But  why  not  have  our  public  schools  on  this  model  ? 

Because  it  can  not  be  done  until  the  public,  by  fair  ex- 
periments, have  tested  the  value  of  such  institutions.  So 
long,  too,  as  foreign  lands  are  emptying  all  classes  into  our 
country,  and  their  children  enter  all  public  schools,  it  will 


354  NOTES. 

be  impossible  to  bring  the  children  of  the  wealthy  classes 
into  them. 

In  conclusion,  the  author  asks  every  true  woman  who 
reads  this  to  help  in  this  effort  for  the  women  and  the  chil- 
dren of  our  country.  If  she  has  money  to  give,  it  can  be 
sent  to  our  agent,  Rev.  William  L.  Parsons,  No.  11  Cliff 
Street,  New  York. 

If  she  has  time  to  devote  to  the  work,  let  her  send  SI  25 
by  mail  to  Harper  &  Brothers,  New  York,  and  she  will  re- 
ceive, without  farther  expense,  the  author's  two  works,  one 
on  Domestic  Economy,  and  the  other  on  Physiology  and 
Physical  Training,  designed  as  text-books  for  schools.  She 
can  then  use  her  injlluence  to  introduce  them,  while  the 
author's  profits,  as  they  ever  have  been,  will  be  devoted  to 
this  object. 

The  following  is  the  Constitution  of  the  association  and 
the  names  of  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  superintend  the 
enterprise.  Most  of  them  have  been  practical  teachers, 
most  are  practical  housekeepers,  while  they  represent  seven 
different  religious  denominations : 

CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  A:MERIC^VN  W0:MAN'S  EDUCA- 
TIONAL ASSOCIATION. 

Art.  1.  The  name  of  this  Society  is  the  American  Wom- 
an's Educational  Association. 

Art.  2.  The  object  of  this  Association  is  to  aid  in  secur- 
ing to  American  Women  a  liberal  education,  honorable  po- 
sition, and  remunerative  employment  in  their  appropriate 
profession ;  the  distinctive  profession  of  woman  being  con- 
sidered as  embracing  the  training  of  the  human  mind,  the 
care  of  the  human  body  in  infancy  and  in  sickness,  and  the 
conservation  of  the  family  state. 

Art.  3.  The  leading  measure  to  be  pursued  by  this  As- 
sociation is  the  establishment  of  permanent  endowed  insti- 
tutions for  women,  embracing  the  leading  features  of  college 


NOTES.  355 

and  professional  institutions  for  the  other  sex,  i.  e.,  they 
shall  be  conducted  by  a  Faculty  of  Teachers,  each  being  the 
head  of  a  given  department,  and  no  one  having  control  over 
the  others.  An  office  corresponding  to  that  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  a  college  shall  be  optional  with  those  who  control 
each  institution. 

Akt.  4.  The  mode  of  establishing  such  institutions  shall 
be  as  follows :  An  agent  of  this  Association  shall  make  this 
offer  to  some  city  or  large  town  in  a  section  where  teachers 
and  schools  are  most  needed. 

First :  That  the  citizens  shall  organize  a  Board  of  Trus- 
tees, in  which  the  various  religious  denominations  of  the 
place  shall  be  fairly  represented ;  that  these  Trustees  shall 
provide  temporary  accommodations,  and  pupils  enough  to 
support  four  Teachers  ;  that  a  Primary  and  a  High  School 
Department  be  organized,  and  that  the  college  plan  of  a 
Faculty  of  Teachers  be  adopted. 

On  these  conditions,  the  Association  shall  furnish  the  In- 
stitution with  a  library  and  apparatus  to  the  value  of  one 
thousand  dollars.  The  first  Bdard  of  Teachers  shall  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  Association,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  Trustees,  and  thereafter  the  Faculty  shall  have  the 
nominating  and  the  Trustees  the  appointing  power. 

Second:  As  soon  as  the  Teachers  have  secured  public 
confidence,  and  proved  that  they  can  work  harmoniously 
together,  the  citizens  shall  erect  a  building  at  an  expense  of 
not  less  than  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  engage  to  give  gra- 
tuitous tuition  to  twenty  Normal  Pupils.  In  return,  the 
Association  shall  provide  an  endowment  of  twenty  thousand 
dollars,  the  interest  of  which  shall  furnish  the  salaries  of 
the  three  superior  teachers,  each  having  charge  of  one  of 
the  three  departments  set  forth  above  as  constituting  the 
profession  of  woman.  They  shall  also  aid  in  the  literary 
instruction.  These  three  teachers,  with  the  beneficiary 
Normal  Pupils,  and  any  others  who  may  wish  and  are 


356  NOTES. 

qualified  to  enter,  shall  constitute  the  Normal  Department. 
The  Normal  Pupils  shall  act  as  Assistants  in  the  Primary 
and  High  School  Departments,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Principal  Teachers. 

Art.  5.  With  each  institution  shall  be  connected  an  or- 
ganization of  ladies  resident  in  the  place  of  location,  who, 
with  the  Teachers  of  the  Normal  Department,  shall  carry- 
out  a  system  for  raising  up  schools  in  destitute  places,  and 
for  securing  employ  and  suitable  compensation  for  all  teach- 
ers trained  in  the  institution.  "When  the  home  supply  is  in- 
adequate, the  Teachers  shall  be  sought  from  the  Board  of 
National  Popular  Education,  and  other  similar  associations. 
All  teachers  thus  located  shall  be  under  the  special  care  of 
this  local  Association,  and  the  boarding  establishment  of 
the  Normal  Department  shall  serve  as  a  temporary  home  to 
them  in  all  emergencies  demanding  it. 

Art.  6.  Funds  contributed  for  endowments  shall  be  held 
in  trust  for  this  Association  by  gentlemen  Trustees  incor- 
porated for  the  purpose. 

Art.  7.  The  whole  control  of  the  business  and  funds  shall 
be  in  a  Board  of  Managers,  who  shall  appoint  their  o^^^l 
oflScers,  agents,  and  executive  committee.  This  Board  shall 
have  power  to  perpetuate  and  increase  itself,  but  the  num- 
ber from  any  one  religious  denomination  shall  never  exceed 
one  fifth  of  the  whole.  Not  less  than  seven  different  de- 
nominations shall  be  represented  in  the  Board,  and  a  ma- 
jority shall  be  ladies  who  are  or  have  been  practical  teach- 
ers. Any  number  of  members  present,  of  the  Board  or  of 
the  Executive  Committee,  at  any  meeting  of  either,  due  no- 
tice having  been  given  of  such  meeting,  shall  constitute  a 
quorum.  The  Board  shall  meet  annually  at  such  time  and 
place  as  it  shall  appoint,  and  the  presiding  officer  shall  be 
appointed  at  each  meeting.  A  meeting  may  also  be  called 
at  any  time,  at  the  request  of  any  three  members  of  the 
Board. 


NOTES. 


357 


Akt.  8.  Any  person  may  become  an  honorary  life  member 
of  this  Association  by  the  payment  of  twenty-iive  dollars, 
and  an  honorary  lyatron  of  the  enterprise  by  the  payment  of 
fifty  dollars  or  upward. 


BOARD  OF  MANAGERS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  WOMAN'S  EDUCATIONAL 
ASSOCIATION. 


Mrs.  Z.  P.  G.  Banister, 

Neivhuryport,  Mass. 

Mrs.  L.  H.  Sigourney, 

Hartford,  Conn. 

Mrs.  S.  J.  Hale, 

Philadelphia. 

Miss  P.  Fobes, 

Monticello,  III. 

Mrs.  Gen.  J.  Gould, 

Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Mrs.  E.  Ricord, 

Newark,  N.  J. 

Mrs.  H.  B.  Stowe, 

Andover,  Mass. 

]Mrs.  Prof  H.  C  Conant, 

Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Miss  C.  E.  Beecher, 

Boston,  Mass. 

Miss  Mary  Mortimer, 

Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Miss  C.  M.  Sedgwick, 

New  York. 

JVIi's.  Prof  D.  C.  Van  Norman 

Mrs.  Marcus  Spring, 

a 

IVIrs.  C.  M.  Kirkland, 

6C 

Mrs.  Prof  H.Webster, 

u 

Mrs.  A.  H.  Gibbons, 

u 

Mrs.  C.W.  Milbank, 

66 

Mrs.  Rev.  Dr.  Cheever, 

(C 

Mrs.  Heniy  Dwight,  Jr., 

66 

Mrs.  James  Harper, 

66 

Mrs.  D.  Codwise, 

66 

Mrs.  Charles  Abemethy, 

(( 

Mrs.  Prof  Henry  B.  Smith, 

li 

Mrs.  Joseph  F.  Stone, 

C6 

Miss  Caroline  L.  Griffin, 

C( 

Mrs.  Rev.  Abel  Stevens, 

U 

Mrs.  Rev.  W.  L.  Parsons, 

(C 

358  NOTES. 

The  following  gentlemen  are  the  Officers  under  the  Act 
of  Incorporation  granted  to  the  Association  by  the  Legis- 
lature of  New  York  in  1855. 

Benj.  W.  Bonnet,  President. 
Wm.  L.  Parsons,  Cor.  Secretary. 
Henry  A.  Hurlbut,  Treasurer. 

board  of  managers, 

Cyrus  W.  Field, 
JosiAH  W.  Baker, 
Benj.  W.  Bon^ey, 
Henry  A.  Hurlbut, 
Wm.  L.  Parsons. 

FINANCE  committee. 

Cyrus  W.  Field, 
JosiAn  "\y.  Baker, 
Benj.  W.  Bontsey. 


FORM  OF  BEQUEST. 

I  give  and  bequeath  to  the  "American  Woman's  Edu- 
cational Association,"  incorporated  by  or  under  an  Act  of 
the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York,  the  sum  of 
Dollars,  which  I  direct  to  be  paid  by  my 
executors  to  the  Treasurer  of  said  Association  for  the  time 
bein2:. 


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